Science Fiction Writers and Chess

by Bill Wall

Brian Aldiss (1925- ) is an English writer, best known

for science fiction novels and short stories. In 1959, he
wrote The Canopy of Time, previously known as
Galaxies like Grains of Sand. War was fought between
planets as stylized as chess. War was being waged that
was very complicated, like 3-D chess with obscure
motivations and strict rules of chivalry. ("A row of
chessputers sat before a row of three-dimensional chess
boards, waiting against any human who cared to
challenge them."). In 2005, he wrote Cultural Breaks. It
has one chess reference — "All moved like machines,
like chess pieces, until they fell." Poul William Bill Wall
Anderson (1926-2001) was an American science fiction
author. In 1953, Poul Anderson published "Three
Wishes," which appeared in the March 1953 issue of
Fantastic Science Fiction. There are a couple of
references to chess. ("Und my old chess-playing friends,
ven I come up und vant a game dey vill laugh and say I I don't care very
am crazy in de head, a baby like me should be vanting to much for
play vit eexperts.") In 1953, Anderson wrote the short miniatures. I don't
story "The Sensitive Man." It was first published in the try to beat my
January 1954 issue of Fantastic Universe. Thomas opponents quickly
Bancroft and Bertrand Meade play chess. ("So Bancroft because if they are
or Meade played chess — that was something they had strong, I think I
in common, at least, on this night of the murder.") In should respect
1954, he published a short science fiction article, "The them. It is too risky
Immortal Game." It appeared in February 1954 issue of to play sharply to
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&FS). beat them in 20
The computerized chess pieces don't know they're moves. -Larsen
merely acting out old moves, and develop various
strange delusions involving free will, loyalty,
melodrama, and purple prose. The chess game in the
story was inspired by the 1851 game between Adolf
Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky, known as the
immortal game. In 1955, He published "The Long Way
Home," which appeared in the April 1955 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. Saris Hronna and
Robert Matsumoto play chess. ("Saris Hronna and
Robert Matsumoto were the Explorer's chess fiends, they
had spent many hours hunched over the board, and it
was a strange thing to watch them: a human whose
ancestors had left Japan for America and a creature from
a planet a thousand light-years distant, caught in the trap
of some ages-dead Persian.")

In 1955, Anderson published the science fiction novel

No World of Their Own. In 1958, it was reissued as The
Long Way Home. ("Saris Hronna and Robert Matsumoto
were the Explorer's chess friends..."). In 1958, Anderson
wrote "The Innocent Arrival," ("Innocent at Large")
which appeared in the July 1958 issue of Galaxy. ("...he
was only at ease with his books and his chess and his
mineral collection..."). In 1959, Anderson published the
novel The Enemy Stars. It was originally published in
the August and September 1959 issues of Astounding
Science Fiction as "We Have Fed Our Sea". It was a
Hugo Award nominee for 1959. Chang Sverdlov plays
chess. ("In moments when there was nothing else to do
he might still play a quick chess game with
Sverdlov...Even given boats, chess, music, the No
Drama, beautiful women and beautiful spectroscopes,
life could get heavy.") One of the characters is
Nakamura. In 1966, Anderson published Ensign Flandy.
Max Abrams plays chess with the Merseian officer
Runei the Wanderer. In 1970, Anderson wrote Circus of
Hells. Lieutenant Dominic Flandy finds a computer that
plays chess on a moon called Wayland. The protagonists
find themselves stranded on a planet where a bored
computer has constructed machines in the shape of chess
pieces, and spends its time playing out a gigantic game
of chess on the surface of the planet. Dominic Flandy
and his female companion, Djana, avoid squares where
they can be attacked on the chessboard. In 1975,
Anderson wrote "Wolfram" which appeared in his book
Homeward and Beyond. ("A more dubious privilege was
that of playing chess with the Margrave."). In 1997,
Anderson wrote The Fleet of Stars. Kinna Ronay beat
her father in two games out of three while on Mars. In
1998, Anderson wrote the science fiction novel
Starfarers. It was a Campbell Award nominee in 1999.
Ajit Sundaram and Lajos Ruszek play chess. ("Sundaram
and Ruszek played a game of chess in the saloon.") In
1999, Anderson wrote Operation Luna, which mentions
chess a few times. Balawahdiwa watches animated chess
pieces fighting the game out on a chessboard. One of the
characters had a couple of bone chessmen from the
Middle Ages.

Catherine Asaro (1955- ) is an American science fiction

writer and fantasy author. In 2004, she wrote Schism.
There are several references to chess. Shannon and Brad
play chess. In 2006, Asaro wrote Alpha. Alpha was a
gorgeous, super intelligent android. The novel mentions
modern forms of the Turing test and references the Gary
Kasparov vs. Deep Blue computer match that had
occurred decades ago. "Decades ago, people had
expected that if a computer bested a human chess
master, the machine would qualify as intelligent. Deep
Blue beat Gary Kasparov, the world champion, few
people considered it truly intelligent." In 2011, she wrote
Carnelians. ("But you can't send Quis moves as if you
were playing chess by long distance.")

Roger D. Aycock (1914-2004) is an American science

fiction author. He wrote under the pen name of Roger
Dee. (see Roger Dee).

Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1920. In his

lifetime, he wrote 470 books. Some of his science fiction
stories mentioned chess. One of his first science fiction
stories, Nightfall, written in 1941, contains a reference to
chess. A multi-chess board was set up and a six-member
game was started. "The men about the table had brought
out a multi-chess board and started a six member game.
Moves were made rapidly and in silence. All eyes bent
in furious concentration on the board." In 1968, the
Science Fiction Writers of America voted Nightfall the
best science fiction short story ever written. When the
book was expanded into a novel, multi-chess had been
changed to stochastic chess. His first published novel,
Pebble in the Sky, published in 1950, propelled a man
thousands of years into the future. The only thing that
did not change, after thousands of years, was the game
of chess. The novel also mentioned variants of chess
such as 3-D chess, and chess played with dice.

"Chess, somehow, hadn't changed, except for the names

of the pieces. It was as he remembered it, and therefore it
was always a comfort to him. At least, in this one
respect, his poor memory did not play him false. Grew
told him of variations of chess. There was fourhanded
chess, in which each player had a board, touching each
other at the corners, with a fifth board filling the hollow
in the center as a common No Man's Land. There were
three-dimensional chess games in which eight
transparent boards were placed one over the other and in
which each piece moved in three dimensions as they
formerly moved in two, and in which the number of
pieces and pawns were doubled, the win coming only
when a simultaneous check of both enemy kings
occurred. There were even the popular varieties, in
which the original position of the chessmen were
decided by throws of the dice, or where certain squares
conferred advantages or disadvantages to the pieces
upon them, or where new pieces with strange properties
were introduced. But chess itself, the original and
unchangeable, was the same—and the tournament
between Schwartz and Grew had completed its first fifty
games. They used a "night-board," one that glowed in
the darkness in a checkered blue-and-orange glimmer.
The pieces, ordinary lumpish figures of a reddish clay in
the sunlight, were metamorphosed at night. Half were
bathed in a creamy whiteness that lent them the look of
cold and shining porcelain, and the others sparked in tiny
glitters of red."

Asimov mentioned chess in his 1950 short story, Legal

Rites. "Every night we sat up together. When we didn't
play pinochle or chess or cribbage, we just sat and talked
over the news of the day. I still have the book we used to
keep records of the chess and pinochle games. Zeb made
the entries himself, in his own handwriting." In 1953, in
Asimov's short story, Monkey's Finger, he wrote, ""Yes.
Yes." Torgesson paced faster. "Then you must know that
chess-playing computers have been constructed on
cybernetic principles. The rules of chess moves and the
object of the game are built into its circuits. Given any
position on the chess board, the machine can then
compute all possible moves together with their
consequence and choose that one which offers the
highest probability of winning the game. It can even be
made to take the temperament of its opponent into
account. Torgesson said, "Now imagine a similar
situation in which a computing machine can be given a
fragment of a literary work to which the computer can
then add words from its stock of the entire vocabulary
such that the greatest literary values are served.
Naturally, the machine would have to be taught the
significance of the various keys of a typewriter. Of
course, such a computer would have to be much, much
more complex than any chess player."

In his 1953 book, Second Foundation, he wrote, "But she

had died. Less than five years, all told, it had been; and
after that he knew that he could live only by fighting that
vague and fearful enemy that deprived him of the dignity
of manhood by controlling his destiny; that made life a
miserable struggle against a foreordained end; that made
all the universe a hateful and deadly chess game. But
there was no way of making the people suddenly
disbelieve what they had believed all their lives, so that
the myth eventually served a very useful purpose in
Seldon's cosmic chess game." In his 1955 short story,
Franchise, he wrote, "We can't let you read a newspaper,
but if you'd care for a murder mystery, or if you'd like to
play chess, or if there's anything we can do for you to
help pass the time, I wish you'd mention it. Reason alone
wouldn't do. What was needed was a rare type of
intuition; the same faculty of mind (only much more
intensified) that made a grand master at chess. A mind
was needed of the sort that could see through the
quadrillions of chess patterns to find the one best move,
and do it in a matter of minutes." In his 1956 short story,
The Dead Past, he wrote, "Your scientists can't write.
Why should they be expected to? They aren't expected to
be grand masters at chess or virtuosos at the violin, so
why expect them to know how to put words together?
Why not leave that for specialists, too?" In his 1968
short story, Exile to Hell, he wrote, "He considered the
chessboard carefully and his hand hesitated briefly over
the bishop. Parkinson, at the other side of the chess
board, watched the pattern of the pieces absently. Chess
was, of course, the professional game of computer
programmers, but, under the circumstances, he lacked
enthusiasm. By rights, he felt with some annoyance,
Dowling should have been even worse off; he was
programming the prosecution's case. He tapped his
finger on the chessboard for emphasis, and Dowling
caught the queen before it went over. "Adjusting, not
moving," he mumbled. Dowling's eyes went from piece
to piece and he continued to hesitate." In his 1970 short
story, Waterclap, he wrote, "No mystery," said Bergen
genially. "At any given time, some fifteen of our men are
asleep and perhaps fifteen more are watching films or
playing chess or, if their wives are with them-"

From 1971 to 1974, Asimov wrote Tales of the Black

Widowers. It had several chess references. He wrote,
"He was a master at Chinese checkers, Parcheesi,
backgammon, Monopoly, checkers, chess, go, three-
dimensional ticktacktoe." Do you have a chess set, Mr.
Atwood?"

"Certainly!" "Yours? Or was it a present from Mr.

Sanders?" "Oh, no, mine. A rather beautiful set that
belonged to my father. Sanders and I played many a
game on it."

In 1972, in his short story, Take a Match, he wrote, "He

said there was a low hum that you could hear in one of
the men's rooms that you couldn't hear anymore. And he
said there was a place in the closet of the game room
where the chess sets were kept where the wall felt warm
because of the fusion tube and that place was not warm
now."

In his 1976 short story, The Winnowing, he wrote,

"Peter Affarre, chairman of the World Food
Organization, came frequently to Rodman's laboratories
for chess and conversation."

In 1978, Asimov wrote a story for the September 4, 1978

issue of New York Magazine, entitled, "Gosh, Kreskin,
That's Amazing!" He wrote, "The amazing Kreskin, who
bills himself as the "world's foremost mentalist," played
chess with Cleveland Amory and Jacques d'Ambroise at
the Raga restaurant last Tuesday. Kreskin was
blindfolded, and he announced he would call out his
opponent's moves after they made them, presumably by
reading their minds. He called out the first two moves of
each opponent, then called a halt to that part of the
demonstration. Both Amory and d'Abroise made the
common Pawn-to-King's-Four opening move, and
Kreskin guessed the move - after much patter and visible
suffering. Kreskin moved his Queen's Pawn up to
Amory's piece, and Amory promptly too it with his
King's Pawn. In being taken from the board, the two
chess pieces made a pronounced click - a dead
giveaway. Kreskin guessed the move again with
suffering and delay.

For the second part of the demonstration, Kreskin had

Cleveland Amory place a Knight on another chessboard
with the 64 squares numbered sequentially. Although
blindfolded and with his back to the chessboard, Kreskin
guessed that the Knight was on No. 35. I don't know
how he did it, but I presume any good mentalist can do
it. He then called off the number of 63 other squares in
order, squares to which the Knight could move by
legitimate Knight's moves. The various "Knight's tours,"
which is what these are called, are well known to chess
players, and I suspect it is quite possible to memorize a
Knight's tour and then, having established the starting
number, rattle off the other 63 numbers in the correct
order. Kreskin suffered through every number, though,
asking for quiet, then pattering and squirming endlessly.
He got the numbers right, of course. He expressed
surprise at one point that one position was followed by
another square bearing a number higher than the
previous one. There are 42 different positions on the
squares that allow a move to another position ten higher
in number by a Knight's move, so his surprise was itself
surprising. Kreskin is offering to meet Bobby Fischer,
together with the winner of the Korchnoi-Karpov match,
and play them both simultaneously, himself blindfolded.
If that should happen and Kreskin proceeds with
constant chatter as last Tuesday, I wonder which of his
two opponents will kill him first. Probably Fischer."

In 1979, Asimov wrote Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts.

On page 68, he says, "The number of possible ways of
playing just the first four moves on each side in a game
of chess is 318,979,564,000." This may be wrong. The
number of possible ways for White to play the first move
is 20 (16 pawn moves and 4 knight moves). For the first
move with Black, the number is 400. For the 2nd move
for white, the number of possible moves is 8,902 (5,362
distinct). For the 2nd move for Black, the number of
possible moves is 197,281 (71,852 distinct). For the 3rd
move for White, the number of possible moves is
4,865,617. For the 3rd move for Black, the number of
possible moves is 119,060,679. For the 4th move for
White, the number of possible moves is 3,195,913,043.
For the 4th move for Black, the number of possible
moves is 84,999,425,906. This is smaller than what
Asimov says. In 1981, Asimov wrote a science fiction
short story called The Perfect Fit. He referred to a 3-
dimensional chess game which was a game with 8
chessboards stacked upon each other, making the
playing area cubic rather than square. In 1984, in his
book Bouquets of the Black Widowers, he wrote,
"'Please! It will do you good to listen. You may be a
distraction. If you play chess, you will know what I
mean when I say you may be a sacrifice. You are sent in
to confuse and distract us, occupying our time and
efforts, while the real work is done elsewhere."

In 1986, in his short story Robot Dreams, he wrote,

"Paulson said, "We can't let you read a newspaper, but if
you'd care for a murder mystery, or if you'd like to play
chess, or if there's anything we can do for you to help
pass the time, I wish you'd mention it." "Reason alone
wouldn't do. What was needed was a rare type of
intuition; the same faculty of mind (only much more
intensified) that made a grand master at chess. A mind
was needed of the sort that could see through the
quadrillions of chess patterns to find the one best move,
and do it in a matter of minutes."

In 1987, in his book Fantastic Voyage II — Destination

Brain, he wrote, "In life, unlike chess, the game
continues after checkmate." There were other references
to chess in the novel. He wrote, "What's more,
Aleksandr was a dreadful chess player, much to his
father's disappointment, but he showed signs of promise
on the violin." "A pawn is the most important piece on
the chessboard — to a pawn."
In 1988, in his short story The Smile of the Chipper, he
wrote, "Of course, we couldn't hire them both. Getting
two chippers to work together is impossible. They're like
chess grandmasters, I suppose. Put them in the same
room and they would automatically challenge each
other. They would compete continually, each trying to
influence and confute the other. They wouldn't stop
couldn't actually — and they would burn each other out
in six months." In 1990, he wrote an essay for the Los
Angeles Times, entitled "Checkmate?" about computer
chess vs. human intelligence.

In his book, Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor, he

wrote, "Once while I was in the army, I read "The Royal
Game", surely the best chess story ever written. It filled
me with a wild desire to play chess and I began to
approach various soldiers who appeared the chess type.
No Luck! To each one I came with a wistful "Would you
like to play a game of chess?" and from each one came a
cold "No." Finally I had the idea that I should have had
to start with. I came to a soldier and said, "Would you
like to read a terrific story?" and handed him "The Royal
Game". I waited. An hour passed. And then he came to
me and said "Would you like to play a game of chess?"

In 1994, Isaac Asimov's last autobiography, I. Asimov:

A Memoir, was published after his death. In his chapter
titled Games, this is what he said about chess.

"Failure at physical sports has never bothered me...What

bothered me, though, was my failure at chess. When I
was quite young and had a checkerboard, but no chess
pieces, I read books on the game and learned the various
moves. I then cut out cardboard squares on which I drew
the symbols for the various pieces, and tried to play
games with myself. Eventually I managed to persuade
my father to get me real chessmen. Then I taught my
sister the moves and played the game with her. Both of
us played very clumsily indeed. My brother, Stanley,
who watched us play, learned the moves and, eventually,
asked if he might play. Ever the indulgent older brother,
I said, "Sure," and prepared to beat the pants off him.
The trouble was that in the first game he ever played he
beat me. In the years that followed, I discovered that
everyone beat me, regardless of race, color, or religion. I
was simply the most appallingly bad chess player who
ever lived, and, as time went on, I just stopped playing
chess. My failure at chess was really distressing. It
seemed completely at odds with my "smartness," but I
now know (or at least have been told) that great chess
players achieve their results by years and years of
studying chess games, by the memorization of large
numbers of complex "combinations." They don't see
chess as a succession of moves but as a pattern. I know
what that means, for I see an essay or a story as a
pattern. But these talents are different. Kasparov sees a
chess game as a pattern but an essay as a mere collection
of words. I see an essay as a pattern and a chess game as
a mere collection of moves. So he can play chess and I
can write essays and not vice versa. That's not enough,
however. I never thought of comparing myself to grand
masters of chess. What bothered me was my inability to
beat anyone! The conclusion that I finally came to (right
or wrong) was that I was unwilling to study the
chessboard and weigh the consequences of each possible
move I might make. Even people who couldn't see
complex patterns might at least penetrate two or three
moves ahead, but not I. I moved entirely on impulse, if
not at random, and could not make myself do anything
else. That meant I would almost certainly lose. And
again - why? To me, it seems obvious. I was spoiled by
my ability to understand instantly, my ability to recall
instantly. I expected to see things at once and I refused
to accept a situation in which that was not possible."
Isaac Asimov died on April 6, 1992 of AIDS after a
blood transfusion during heart surgery.

Peter Baily is a science fiction writer. In 1959, he

published "Accidental Death," which appeared in the
February 1959 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. There are a few chess references as a crew plays
chess on another planet called Chang with their natives.
A ten-man team ("It was more that we all seemed to
make silly mistakes when we played them and that's
fatal in chess. Of course it's a screwy situation, playing
chess with something that grows its own fur coat, has
yellow eyes and inch and a half long and long white
whiskers. Couldn't you have kept your mind on the
game?")

T. J. Bass was the pseudonym of Thomas J. Bassler

(1932-2011). He was an American science fiction author
and physician. In 1970, he published "A Game of
Biochess," which appeared in the February 1970 issue of
If. In 1974, Bass published The Godwhale. One of the
characters is Ode, a chess grandmaster. ("Hard arteries
pulsed under Drum's thin scalp as he set up the
chessboard in Recovery. Ode was asleep when he was
wheeled in. Drum dozed off too.")

Paolo Bacigalupi (1972- ) is an American science fiction

and fantasy writer. In 2005, Bacigalupi published "The
Calorie Man" in the October/November 2005 issue of
Fantasy and Science Fiction. Lalji of India plays chess in
New Orleans. ("Neither of them played chess well, and
so their games often devolved into a series of trades
made in dizzying succession...") In 2009, he wrote the
biopunk science fiction novel The Windup Girl. There
are a few references to chess. ("The man exists only for
competition, the chess match of evolution, fought on a
global scale.") In 2010, he wrote Ship Breaker ("I'm a
chess piece. A pawn,' she said. 'I can be sacrificed, but I
cannot be captured. To be captured would be the end of
the game.")

Kage Baker (1952- ) is an American science fiction and

fantasy writer. In 2001, she published "The Applesauce
Monster," which appeared in the December 2001 issue
of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. A cyborg plays
chess. In 2005, the story was part of her novel, The
Children of the Company.

Stephen Baxter (1957- ) is a British science fiction

author. In 2003, he published Evolution. ("One of
Papak's most popular innovations was chess. This was a
game, he said, recently to amuse the court of Persia."). In
2003, he wrote Coalescent. In old Britain, the children of
Regina played a fast-moving game like chess played
only with rooks that were made of colored glass
counters. In 2010, he wrote Ark. One of his characters,
Zane Glemp, invents a game called infinite chess. It is
played on a regular board, except that players had to
imagine the chess board wrapped around itself, so that
the right edge was glued to the left, and the upper edge
glued to the lower. Zane and Mike Wetherbee play
chess. ("On the monitor, Zane and Wetherbee spoke
quietly, over a game of infinite chess. The game was an
obvious psychological metaphor for the freedom they all
sought in an enclosed world, but it was ferociously
difficult to play. 'Bastard beats me every time,' Mike
Wetherbee murmured.") In 2010, Baxter and Arthur C.
Clarke wrote The Light of Other Days, ("I've never been
a scientist. But I've solved puzzles. I play chess, for
instance. Science is something like that, isn't it? You
figure something out — suddenly see how the game fits
together..."). In 2013, he wrote Proxima ("It was all
complicated, a game of human chess.") In 2014, he
wrote Ultima, 2014 ("I think Earthshine moved us to
where he wanted us to be, like chess pieces on a board,
Colonel Kalinski.").

Peter Beagle (1939- ) is an American novelist and

screenwriter, especially fantasy fiction. In 1960, he
wrote A Fine and Private Place. It has dozens of chess
references. When Michael, a dead person (poisoned by
his wife), wants to play a game of chess with Jonathan
Rebeck in a mausoleum, Rebeck was surprised and
thought Michael did not like to play chess. Michael
responded sarcastically, "I like chess. I am very fond of
chess. I'm crazy about chess. Let's play chess." A talking
raven had stolen some of the chess pieces from
department stores to make up the chess set.

Greg Bear (1951- ) is an American science fiction writer.

In 1992, he wrote Anvil of Stars. The Brothers or cords,
worm-like creatures, discovered chess, and it became a
release for them. They would play chess all day on a
space ship without eating or sleeping. One of the cords
died while playing chess. ("The Brothers discovered
chess, and it became a release for them. One entire day,
all the Brothers aboard Trojan Horse played chess
without easting or sleeping."). In 2004, he published the
novel Dead Lines. There are several references to chess.
("He looked down at the Enzenbacher chess set on the
coffee table. A silver knight, a private detective in his
trench coat, lifted slowly over a silver ghost pawn and
landed to menace Peter's overextended bishop. The game
had progressed quite a ways.")

Gregory Benford (1941- ) is an American science fiction

author and astrophysicist. In 1976, he published "The
Anvil of Love," which appeared in the July 1976 issue of
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are
several references to chess ("I need something more than
chess to fill my mind."). In 1987, he published his novel
Great Sky River. It tells the story of the Bishop family,
who fight for their very existence on the planet
Snowglade, which has been taken over by the Mechs.
The Bishops are one of a number of families on
Snowglade, all named for chess pieces. These "families"
are more like clans or tribes.

Edward Frederic Benson was an English novelist and

short story writer. In 1942, he published "The Outcast,"
which appeared in the August 1942 issue of Famous
Fantastic Mysteries. It has a reference to a chess
problem. ("I listened to this with sufficient attention to
grasp what Madge was saying, but what I was really
thinking about was a chess-problem which I was
attempting to solve.")

Ruth Berman (1942- ) is a writer of short science fiction

and speculative poetry. In 1974, she published "A Board
in the Other Direction," which appeared in the January
1974 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science
Fiction. A game of four-dimensional chess is played. In
1975, she wrote an article called "Using Chess in
Science Fiction."

In 1899, Ambrose Bierce (1842-1913) wrote a short

story called "Moxon's Master," which was first
published in the San Francisco Examiner on April 16,
1899. It describes a chess-playing robot (the word robot
was not used until 1921) automaton that strangles and
murders its creator, Moxon, over a game of chess.
Moxon won a game of chess from the robot, and it killed
Moxon in a fit of rage. The story is one of the first
descriptions of a robot in English literature. Bierce,
Ambrose - Moxon's Master, 1893 and 1899 (Two or
three times after moving a piece the stranger slightly
inclined his head, and each time I observed that Moxon
shifted his king. All at once the thought came to me that
the man was dumb. And then that he was a machine —
an automaton chess-player!")

Eando Binder was the pen name of Otto Binder (1904-

1965) an American author of science fiction. In 1937, he
published "The Chessboard of Mars," which appeared in
the June 1937 issue of Wonder Stories. Chess is played
by the Martians. ("The chief occupation of the Martians
in the past ages of their civilization had been warfare.
Now their chief occupation is playing on this gigantic
chess- board of Mars, moving humans in paths of fate
like the chess player moves his pawns and pieces!") In
1938, he published the novel The Impossible World. It
had one reference to chess. ("Routine settled over the
ship. There was much time for cards, chess and idle
talk.")

David Bischoff (1951- ) is an American science fiction

writer. In 1981, he and Thomas Monteleone published
"Dragonsar," which appeared in the December 7, 1981
issue of Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are a
couple of references to chess. In 2016, he published the
novel The H.P. Lovecraft Institute. Father and son play
chess. ("It was the most comfortable room in the house,
and a Saturday with Pop tradition, was at least one quick
game of chess or gin rummy in the study, stretched out
amidst the array of books and the tasteful Impressionist
prints Rev. Dickens had added to the walls.")

James Blaylock (1950- ) is an American fantasy writer.

In 2000, he published Thirteen Phantasms. There are a
few references to chess. ("He laughed out loud and then
bent over to scan the titles of the chess books in the
bookcase. He wasn't sure whether Squires read the
damned things or whether he kept them there to gain
some sort of psychological advantage, which he
generally didn't need.")

Thomas J. Bontly (1940-2012) was a fiction writer and

Professor Emeritus of English at the University of
Wisconsin, where he taught literature and creative
writing for 35 years. In 1979, he published Celestial
Chess. A medieval manuscript is about to be deciphered.
The author of the manuscript, Geoffrey Gervaise, is a
12th century priest and chess player.

Bruce Boston (1943- ) is an American speculative fiction

writer and chess player. In 2008, he published a poem
called "Chess People," which appeared in Asimov's
Science Fiction Magazine. ("If chess people were the
world, everything would be checkered.")

Ben Bova (1932- ) is an American writer in works of

science fact and fiction. In 2008, he published
"Waterbot," which appeared in the June 2008 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are a couple
of references to chess. ("One of these days I'll even beat
him at chess.... He almost let me beat him at chess, even.
I'd get to within two moves of winning and he'd spring a
checkmate on me.") In 2012, he published "A Country
for Old Men." ("Ignatiev had left his quarters after
suffering still another defeat at the hands of the
computerized chess program... The busy, buzzing
thoroughness drove him to distraction; it was impossible
to concentrate on chess or anything else...")

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) was an American fantasy and

science fiction writer. He was also a chess player. In
1950, he published a science fiction short story
collection called The Martian Chronicles (titled The
Silver Locusts in 1951 in the United Kingdom) in which
humans left Earth to inhabit Mars. From above, the cities
were described as little white chess cities. "Starlight
glittered on the spires of a little Martian town, no bigger
than a game of chess, in the blue hills." "He looked at
the towers of the little clean Martian village, like sharply
carved chess pieces lying in the afternoon." "The wind
hurled the sand ship keening over the dead sea bottom,
over long-buried crystals, past upended pillars, past
deserted docks of marble and brass, past dead white
chess cities, past purple foothills, into distance..." In
1950, he wrote "All on a Summer's Night." Boys see old
men playing chess at tables in the park. ("The
chessboards and the old men, the old men and the
chessboards, and the town. The people's lives, moved,
like chesspieces, by what agency?...By the old men, of
course! But if the chessmen were stolen, then what?
Something to think about — stealing the chessmen.") In
1951, he wrote The Illustrated Man, which was a
collection of 18 science fiction short stories. One of the
stories was "The City" which had one reference to chess.
("...flaps of his sliced skin were pinned to the table while
hands shifted parts of his body like a quick and curious
player of chess, using the red pawns and the red pieces.")
In 1952, he published "A Sound of Thunder," which
appeared in Collier's magazine in June, 1952. It had a
chess reference. ("What sort of world it was now, there
was no telling. He could feel them moving there, beyond
the walls, almost, like so many chess pieces blown in a
dry wind ....") In 1953, he wrote the novel Fahrenheit
451 based on his own short story "The Fireman," which
was published in Galaxy Science Fiction in February
1951. Fahrenheit 451 had one chess reference. ("With an
effort, Montag reminded himself again that this was no
fictional episode to be watched on his run to the river; it
was in actuality his own chess-game he was witnessing,
move by move."). In 1957, he wrote the novel Dandelion
Wine. It had one chess reference. ("There sat Saul and
Marshall, playing chess at the coffee table."). In 1985, he
wrote the mystery novel Death is a Lonely Business
("...a lovely chess game carved and set in a store window
when you were a kid."). In 1990, he published A
Graveyard for Lunatics. Roy asks himself what kind of
game is this. ("What kind of game is this? I ask. I can
only find out by countermoving the chesspieces, yes?").
In 2006, Ray Bradbury published Farewell Summer, his
last novel. Chess is mentioned several times in the novel.
Old men were playing chess by the courthouse and the
park had chess tables. Chess pieces were named after
characters. ("Every time you take a step, even when you
don't want to... When it hurts... or even if it means
death... that's good. Anything that moves ahead, wins.
No chess game was ever won by the player who sat for a
lifetime thinking over his next move."). In 2014, Ray
Bradbury's chess and checker set was sold for over
$1,700 in auction.

David Brin (1950- ) is an American scientist and science

fiction author. In 1983, he wrote Startide Rising. It had a
few references to chess. Metz and Dr. Dart play chess.
("And dolphins didn't play chess worth a damn."). In
1985, he wrote the novel The Postman. (Drew Simms —
freckle-faced pre-med with a floppy grin and deadly skill
at chess or poker.") In 2000, he wrote the short story
"Stones of Significance." There were a couple of
references to chess. ("Like the rapid, ever-varying
thoughts of a chess master, working out possibilities
before committing actual pieces across the board?"). In
2012, he wrote the novel Existence. There are a few
references to chess. A humanoid automaton offers a
game of chess. ("Tor's last partner — a nice old 'bot and
a good chess player — had warned her, when he trans-
retired, not to hire an adolescent Class-AAA android
fresh out of AI-college.")

Fredric Brown (1906-1972) was an American science

fiction and mystery writer and a chess player. In 1949,
he published Come and Go Mad. There are a few chess
references. ("Charlie, ever hear of chessmen coming in
red or black? ...I've been dreaming the same things over
and over. One of them is something about a game
between the red and the black; I don't even know
whether it is chess.). In 1960, he published Recessional,
where the protagonists are chessmen. The story portrays
a battle that turns out to be a chess game.

Craig Browning was the pen name of Roger Phillip

Graham (1906-1966), a US writer. In 1948, he published
"Armageddon," which was published in the May 1948
issue of Amazing Science Fiction Stories. There are a
few references to chess.

John Brunner (1934-1995) was a British author of

science fiction novels and stories. In 1965, he wrote the
science fiction novel, The Squares of the City. It was
nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1966.
The story takes place in South American and the city
serves as a chess board and the characters are the various
players in a game of living chess. The chess game is
from the 1892 match between Steinitz and Chigorin
played in Havana. All the people in the book are chess-
mad. Most of the characters are environmentally being
manipulated as chesspieces. When they are exchanged,
they are killed or jailed. International Master Edward
Lasker wrote the introduction to the book.

John Frederick Burke (1922-2011) was and English

writer of novels and short stories. He wrote under the
name J. F. Burke or Jonathan Burke. In 1956, he
published Pursuit through Time. It depicts Clifford
Marritt's attempting to change the course of history by
time-traveling into the past. There are several references
to chess, such as three-dimension chess tournaments
being held in the 1990s. ("Clifford opened with the
Kowak gambit. This put Simon on the defensive. It was
evidently an unknown attack: there were some puzzled
murmurs from the spectators. The knight-rook-pawn
trio, so much commonplace of play in Clifford's own
time, had apparently not been thoroughly exploited in
this past era."). In 1953, he published Chessboard, which
was his first science fiction story, published in the
January issue of New Worlds magazine.

Arthur J. Burks (1898-1974) was an American writer. In

1933, he published Lords of the Stratosphere. ("At a
long table three men — all Orientals — were deeply
immersed in some activity which bent their heads
absorbedly over the very center of the table. It might
have been a three-sided chess game, by their attitudes.")
In 1939, he published "The First Shall Be Last," which
was published in the January 1939 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are a couple
of chess references.

Stephen L. Burns (1953- ) is a science fiction and

fantasy author. In 1992, he published "Tranquility
Rose," which appeared in the January 1992 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are a few
references to chess.

In 1921, Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) wrote The

Chessmen of Mars. It was first published in Argosy All-
Story Weekly as a six-part serial in February-March,
1922. It was later published as a complete novel in
November, 1922. On Mars, they play a modified version
of Jetan, a popular Martian board game resembling
chess, except played on a 10x10 board instead of an 8x8
board. The living version uses people as the game pieces
on a life-sized board, with each taking of a piece being a
duel to the death. Burroughs was an amateur chess
player himself.

Michael Burstein (1970- ) is an American writer o

science fiction. In 1998, he published "In Space, No One
Can Hear," which appeared in the July 1998 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. The characters used
a computer to play chess against each other.

James Cambias is an American science fiction writer. In

2007, he wrote "Balancing Accounts" whose story was
the cover story of the February 2008 cover of Fantasy &
Science Fiction. There was one reference to chess. ("We
were in a race — would Bob run out of maneuvering
juice completely before I used up the reserve I needed to
get back to Mimas? Our little chess game of propellant
consumption might have gone on for hour, but our
attention was caught by something else.")

In 1952, Matthew Cammen published "Mate in Three

Moves" in the March 1952 issue of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. There are several references to chess.

John W. Campbell (1910-1971) was an American

science fiction writer and editor. He sometimes wrote
under the pen name Don A. Stuart. In 1957, he published
the novel Islands of Space. There are several references
to chess. ("We have agreed absolutely never to read each
other's minds while playing chess.")

In 2007, Michael Chabon (1963- ) wrote The Yiddish

Policemen's Union, which features a plot settled around
chess, murder of a chess prodigy named Emanuel
Lasker, and the position on the chess board at the murder
scene. The novel won a number of science fiction
awards: the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Locus
Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, the Hugo Award
for Best Novel, and the Sidewise Award for Alternate
History for Best Novel.

Julian Chain was a science fiction writer. In 1953, he

published "The Captives," which appeared in the
January 1953 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. There are a couple of references to chess and the
neurotic behavior of a chess player.

Carolyn Janice Cherry (1942- ), better known by the pen

name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative
fiction. In 1989, she wrote Rimrunners ("Chess set. Real
one, not just a sim. Real board, real pieces. God knew
how old."). In 2011, she wrote Betrayer, which had
several references to chess. (Cajeiri just sat, aching from
want to sleep, and played chess with Jegari and tried to
make the time pass faster."). In 2013, she wrote
Protector, which had several chess references. Her
character, Tabini, played chess. ("And there was just
nothing to do but play chess with Antaro with everybody
else to advise both sides, which made a rowdy sort of
chess game."). In 2016, she wrote Visitor ("Such faces.
There has been far too much study, too much chess, too
little noise."

Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) was a British science

fiction writer. Many of his stories have chess references,
but he wrote that he did not like chess. However, he
mentions that he played a chess hustler named Fred
Duval in Washington Square Park. In 1938, he published
"How We Went to Mars," which appeared in Amateur
Science Fiction Stories, March 1938. One Martian game
was described as four-dimensional chess. ("After this we
were not bothered anymore and were able to spend most
of our time indoors playing poker and some curious
Martian games we had picked up, including an
interesting mathematical one which I can best describe
as 'four-dimensional chess.'") In 1949, published "Hide
and Seek," which appeared in Astounding Science-
Fiction, September 1949. A man on one of the moons of
Mars was being sought for by guided missiles and the
TV screen was compared to a chessboard. More men
were on the chessboard now, and the game was a little
deadlier. 1949 ("There were rather more men on the
chess-board now, and the game was a little deadlier, but
his was still the advantage."). In 1950, he wrote "Silence
Please!" for Science-Fantasy, winter 1950. A detonation
had disturbed the chess game in progress at the back of
the saloon bar. ("I take it, of course, that you all
understand the phenomenon of interference. 'Hey!' said
one of the chess-players, who had given up trying to
concentrate on the game (probably because he is
losing).'I don't.'"). In 1951, he wrote "The Road to the
Sea (Seeker of the Sphinx)," which appeared in Two
Complete Science-Adventure Books, spring 1951. It had
a few chess references. ("If he could win Yradne in the
present, the future could take care of itself...Why don't
you play a game of chess, like sensible people, to decide
who'll have her first."). In 1954, Arthur C. Clarke
published Armaments Race. The communist in the story
peaceably studies a chess-board in the corner of a room.
("I wondered what the trouble was. Not un-American
activities again, I prayed: that would trigger off our pet
communist, who at the moment was peaceably studying
a chess-board in the corner."). In 1954, he wrote
"Invention (Patent Pending)," for Adventure, November
1954 ("Though chess is rampant, darts and shove-
ha'penny also flourish."). In 1957, Arthur C. Clarke
published "'The Other Side of the Sky," which appeared
in Infinity Fiction Magazine, October 1957. It had a
chess reference. ("On the way up from earth was an
inflatable lounge spacious enough to hold no fewer than
eight people, a microfilm library, a magnetic billiard
table, lightweight chess sets, and similar novelties for
bored spacemen."). In 1958, he wrote "Cosmic
Casanova," for Venture 1958 ("What's the matter, Joe?'
Max would say plaintively. 'Surely you're not mad at me
because I beat you at chess again? Remember, I warned
you I would.'"). In 1961, Clarke wrote "Before Eden,"
for Amazing Stories, June 1961. ("All we need do is
walk a few miles toward the Pole; according to the radar
maps, it's fairly level once you're over the rim. We could
manage in —oh, twelve hours at the most. Each of us
has been out for longer than that, in much worse
conditions." That was perfectly true. Protective clothing
that had been designed to keep men alive in the
Venusian lowlands would have an easy job here, where
it was only a hundred degrees hotter than Death Valley
in midsummer. "Well," said Coleman, "you know the
regulations. You can't go by yourself, and someone has
to stay here to keep contact with the ship. How do we
settle it this time — chess or cards? Chess takes too
long, said Hutchins, especially when you two play it.").
In 1968, he wrote the science fiction novel 2001, A
Space Odyssey. ("For relaxation he could always engage
Hal in a large number of semimathematical games,
including checkers, chess and polyominoes." In 1977, he
mentioned chess in his short story Quarantine, first
published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
spring 1977. Earth had to be destroyed as they became
totally obsessed with the six items. ("...if those six
operators are ever re-discovered, all rational computing
will end. How can they be recognized?...Here they are:
King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, Pawn.")

Hal Clement, the pen name of Harry Clement Stubbs

(1922-2003), was an American science fiction writer.
His short story "Hot Planet" took the cover of the August
1963 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. It had one
reference to chess. Schlossberg said, "I just hoped we
have each an idea why Mercury developed an
atmosphere during the last two decades, but I guess the
high school kids on Earth will know whether it's right
before we do. I'm resigned to living in a chess-type
universe — few and simple rules, but infinite
combinations of them. But it would be nice to know an
answer sometime."

Mark Coggins (1957- ) is an American author. In 1999,

he wrote his first novel The Immortal Game. It dealt
with the theft of chess-playing software similar to that
run on Deep Blue. ("My chief interest is computer games
— computer chess being my specialty.")

Contoski, Victor (1936- ) is an American writer. In

1966, he published "Von Goom's Gambit," which
appeared in the April 1966 issue of Chess Review, and
reprinted in the December 1966 issue of The Magazine
of Fantasy and Science Fiction. ("By this time, Von
Goom had become familiar, almost comic, figure in the
chess world....Fifteen minutes after the first round began,
Von Goom won his first game of chess. His opponent
had died of a heart attack.")

Brenda Cooper (1951- ) is a science fiction and fantasy

writer. In 2005, she and Larry Niven wrote "Kath and
Quicksilver," which appeared in the August 2005 issue
of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. Quicksilver can
beat Kath at chess. In 2008, she wrote the novel Reading
the Wind. ("And tomorrow, I'd start the day with
something simple, like a game of chess.")

Matthew Costello (1948- ) is an author of numerous

novels. In 1987, he published "On Gaming," which
appeared in the March 1987 issue of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. In the future, chess will be played over
a hologram.

Charles Creighton was a science fiction writer. In 1951,

he published "The Man Who Forgot," which appeared in
the February 1951 issue of Amazing Science Fiction
Stories. There are several references to chess. ("'He's a
specialist. The history of chess. He's writing a book on
it.' 'He has over forty thousand books on chess alone,
some of them dating back to the twentieth century.
...Chess is basically similar to war and politics, but it
doesn't qualify a man to deal with the intricacies of
actual politics and war. ...'I've been chosen — as
Randolph Beecher the master chess player — to
mastermind the Martian plans.")

Kendell Foster Crossen (1910-1981) was an American

pulp fiction and science fiction writer. In 1952, he
published "The Regal Rigelian," which appeared in the
February 1952 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. A
game of four-dimensional chess is played, invented by
Horace Homer. ("Anyone may challenge the emperor to
a game of four-dimensional chess, and if the challenger
wins he becomes King of Alphard VI for a period of one
week...There hasn't been a Terran born who could beat a
Rigelian in four dimensional chess — why do you think
my planet has held the Galactic Championship for the
past two hundred years.")

In 2010, Benjamin Crowell published "Petopia" in the

June 2010 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. Raphael
ignores his chores and spends the day at a chessboard
with a chess book full of diagrams. He later plays chess
with an artificial intelligence toy named Jelly, then with
some others using a chess clock to play blitz chess. He
starts hustling other people for money. Jelly was used as
a paper-weight for the money on the chess table, but was
Jelly helping Raphael cheat and win at chess? "Was he a
professional chess hustler now?"

Ray Cummings (1887-1957) was an American science

fiction author. In 1930, he published 'Phantoms of
Reality," which appeared in Astounding Stories of Super
Science 1930. There is one reference to chess. ("The
general moved rarely, and spoke hardly at all. His whole
air was that of a man absorbed in a game of chess — a
game on which the fate of a nation depended. He was
thus absorbed.")

Alexei Cyren was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario.

He is a fiction author and novelist, writing in the fantasy
and science fiction genre. In 2013, he wrote Night
Harbour (Solid State Shadow Omnibus.) There are
several references to chess. At chess tournaments, there
are floating holographic views of the chess boards.

In 1947, John de Courcy and Dorothy de Courcy wrote

"Chess and Double Chess," which appeared in the March
1947 issue of Amazing Science Fiction. Something
looks like a spherical chess race and a chess move was
invented.

Chandler Davis (1926- ) is an American-Canadian

mathematician and writer. In 1947, he published "Letter
to Ellen," which appeared in the June 1947 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are a couple
of references to chess. In 1953, he published "Share Our
World," which was published in the August 1953 issue
of Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are several
references to chess.

Charles de Vet (1911-1997) was a US science fiction

writer, mostly of short stories. In 1958, he wrote the
novelette "Second Game," published in Astounding in
March 1958. The novel was reissued in 1962 with
Katherine Maclean as Cosmic Checkmate, and reissued
again in 1981 as Second Game. An Earthman is sent to
investigate a hostile planet (Velda) whose inhabitants all
play a chess-like game, played on a 13x13 chessboard.
Their social advancement depends on their proficiency
in the game. The earthling narrator, a chess champion, is
equipped with an "annotator" which is an artificial
intelligence addition to his brain. He comes to Velda and
challenges all comers saying that he can beat anyone in
the second game. He probe's the weakness of his
opponents in the first game, and then is able to always
win the second game. ("'I'll beat you the second game,'
was the Earthman's challenge to the planet Velda —
whose culture was indeed based on a complicated super-
chess of skill and concentration.").

Roger Dee was the pen name of Roger D. Aycock

(1914-2004), an American science fiction author. In
1954, he published "Man Friday," which appeared in
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Sczhau
plays chess. In 1960, he published "Control Group,"
which first appeared in the January 1960 issue of
Amazing Science Fiction Stories. It has a few chess
references. ("Gibson, playing chess with Xavier across
the chart-room plotting table, looked up briefly and went
back to his gambit. Gibson, who for four hours had not
looked up from his interminable chess game with
Xavier, paused with a beleaguered knight in one blunt
brown hand.").

Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) was an American science

fiction writer. In 1953, he published "Golden Man,"
which appeared in the April 1954 issue of If. There was
one reference to chess. ("And then he would be able to
see another area, a region farther beyond. He was always
moving, advancing into new regions he had never seen
before. A constantly unfolding panorama of sights and
scenes, frozen landscapes spread out ahead. All objects
were fixed. Pieces on a vast chess board through which
he moved, arms folded, face calm. A detached observer
who saw objects that lay ahead of him as clearly as those
under foot.") In 1954, he published "Strange Eden,"
which appeared in the December 1954 issue of
Imagination Science Fiction." There are a few references
to chess. ("'Do you play chess?' 'Chess?' 'It's our national
game. We introduced it to some of your Brahmin
ancestors.")

James Diffin is a science fiction writer. In 2012, he

published Silent Call. The main character, John Ryder, is
an American chess grandmaster who plays in a chess
tournament in England.

Thomas Disch (1940-2008) was an American science

fiction author. In 1978, he published "Concepts," which
appeared in the December 1978 issue of The Magazine
of Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are a few
references to chess.

Diane Duane (1952- ) is an American science fiction and

fantasy author. In 1984, she published My Enemy, My
Ally, a Star Trek original series novel. A small
Transporter is used to move pieces supposedly through
time, by beaming them off the board and then back on
some turns later. Spock and Kirk are playing a 4D chess
game and Spock is winning. McCoy enters, who takes
Kirk's place and beat Spock with what was promptly
nicknamed kamikaze chess. In four-dimensional chess,
pieces can be timed out of the 3D cube to reappear later.

S.N. Dyer is a science fiction writer. In 1997, he

published "The Nostalginauts," which appeared in the
March 1997 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction
Magazine. There are a couple of references to chess and
a chess club.

George Alec Effinger (1947-2002) was an American

science fiction author. In 1982, he wrote "My Old Man,"
which appeared in the February 1982 issue of Rod
Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine. The story teller
says he has a chess computer on his desk that sometimes
gives him programmed messages about his game. In
1983 he wrote Idle Pleasures. It includes a chess
competition where the rules change with every move.

Harlan Ellison (1934- ) is an American speculative

fiction writer. In 1988, he wrote an article called
"Wave," which was published in the Nov-Dec issue of
Aboriginal Science Fiction. He wrote "It seems, almost a
quarter of a century later, using words like "ghetto" and
"revolution," as hincty and unfashionable, as
melodramatic and amusingly embarrassing, as
overhearing creaky Wobblies playing chess in
Washington Square reminiscing the paranoid Palmer
Raids of 1920." In one of his Harlan Ellison Hornbook
columns, he wrote, "This is a test. Take notes. This will
count as 3/4 of your final grade. Hints: remember, in
chess, kings cancel each other out and cannot occupy
adjacent squares, are therefore all-powerful and totally
powerless, cannot affect each other, produce stalemate

Frederick Englehardt was the pseudonym of L. Ron

Hubbard, who was a chess player. In 1939, he published
"General Swamp, C.I.C.," which appeared in the
September 1939 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. There is a discussion of the ancient game of
chess.

Lionel Fanthorpe (1935- ) is a British author and priest.

In 1960, he published the science fiction novel Hand of
Doom. The book was written to suit a cover that had
been produced to illustrate. It had one chess reference.
("The chess expert uses his knight on the closely packed
confines of an opening game. It is at the end, on an open
board, that the rooks and the bishops can do their finest
work."). In 1961, Lionel Fanthorpe (using the pen name
John E. Muller) published Forbidden Planet, which
describes a vast interstellar chess game played by
superhuman entities using human beings as pawns.
("...men are perfect pawns, in this cosmic, galactic chess
game. Then let us take the next strongest piece. On a
chess-board the pawn is given the value of 1."). In 1965,
he published The Negative Ones. ("Centuries before,
chess had been played to those rules, as far as he knew,
but certainly hundreds of years had passed since the
introduction of the pawn moves two innovation. Scott
was a psychiatrist first, and a chess player second."). In
1965, he published the novel Beyond the Void. Ferdin
and Darmina play chess. Selpan was the traditional chess
center of the Martian colonies, and most of the
Selphanes grand masters were too strong for terrestrial
champions. ("Remember the chess match? Yes. Pawn to
king four. She sighed. Pawn to king four, she echoed...").
In 1966, he published Phenomena X. There is a three
dimensional chess cube. ("I saw two of them playing
what looked like a kind of four dimensional chess. Oh,
yes? Well — three dimensional, anyway... Can you think
of anything more interesting than a game of chess played
with living people?").

John M. Faucette (1943-2003) was an African-American

science fiction author and chess player. He was a
member of the United States Chess Federation and took
3rd place in the Nassau Open Chess Championship in
New York. One of his unpublished works was The Tan
Argus III Interstellar Chess Tournament. ("In the far
future, when the game of chess has spread throughout
the galaxy, at a time of tension between the human race
and other species, humanity's champion, the African
American Sam Mist, despite a broken heart,
assassination attempts and being off his game, must beat
a mindreader, an empath, a being who has never lost a
game, a player whose God whispers moves to him, a
creature with a billion bodies but a single mind and ten
other assorted entities to win the first chess
championship of the universe.") Another unpublished
story was Earth Will be Avenged. ("The battle-net
coordinated the Star Kings well. Messages flashed
constantly as Ian moved his forces around like a master
chessplayer or a matador deploying his cape and sword
to best advantage against the powerful, deadly MOTU
bull. The comps automatically made adjustments, carried
out plans—new and old, put overwhelming power on
key points—no matter how well defended.)

Eliot Fintushel (1947) is a prolific science fiction writer.

In 1994, he published "Ylem," which appeared in the
October 1994 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction
Magazine. There are a few references to chess. ("I'm a
good player though. Some people think I'm a great chess
player, only I don't like to beat everybody all the time,
because of how it makes them feel bad.")

Robert Forward (1932-2002) was an American physicist

and science fiction writer. In 1986, he published
"Acceleration Constant," which appeared in
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction in March, 1986.
There are a few references to chess. There was a 3-D
chess tournament on Jupiter.

Carl Frederick is an American science fiction author and

chess player. In 2003, he published "The Study of Ants,"
which appeared in the September 2003 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. One of the
characters built a chess computer and teaches ants to
play chess. They quickly learn to play chess only too
well.

Jacques Futrelle (1875-1912) was an American

journalist and mystery writer who drowned after the
sinking of the Titanic. In 1905, he wrote some short
stories featuring Professor S.F.X. Van Dusen, also
known as "The Thinking Machine." He referenced chess
in many of his stories. ("Chess is a shameless perversion
of the functions of the brain.")

Chester Geier (1921-1990) was a science fiction writer.

In 1946, he published "Minions of the Tiger," which
appeared in the September 1946 issue of Fantastic
Adventures. There are a couple of chess references.
("The older man had a chess set laid out on the bench
and seemed to be engaged in working out a problem.
...Finally Melhorn suggested a game of chess, and
Corbin agreed. He lost consistently, without being very
much aware of the fact.")

David Gerrold (1944- ) is an American science fiction

screenwriter and novelist. One of the submissions for the
television show Star Trek involved a situation in which
Kirk had to play a chess game with an advanced
intelligence using his crew as chess pieces. In 1987, he
wrote the novel Chess with a Dragon. The title does not
refer to an actual chess game. Yake Singh Brown has to
negotiate a deal for humanity. It's the toughest
assignment he's ever faced, like playing chess with a
dragon. All he has to do is figure out the rules of the
game before being eaten. He also wrote Starhunt ("On
the table in front of him is a chessboard, sixteen squares
to a side. There are two pieces of board, a white flag-
ship and a black one. ...Leen shakes his head. 'I — uh, I
don't play chess that much.'")

Alexis Gilliland (1931- ) is an American science fiction

writer and chess player. In 1989, he published "The Man
Who Funded the Moon," which appeared in the October
1989 issue of Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. ("You
study chess, while Americans play poker.")

Phyllis Gotlieb (1926-2009) was a Canadian science

fiction novelist and poet. In 1976, she wrote O Master
Caliban. A game of chess determines the fate of a planet
and a people. Dahlgren is left playing chess for his life
with a robotic mirror image of himself and under the
control of the erg-Queen. The erg-Dahlgren resigns at
the end of the game, reflecting the victory of the human
over the machine. In 1998, she published Flesh and
Gold. There is one reference to chess. ("Skambi is not
the most popular game in the Galaxy. It does not fire
philosophical discussions and seed libraries the way
chess, ip, go, huka and bodoko do...").

Edward Grendon was a science fiction author. In 1951,

he wrote "Crisis," which appeared in the June 1951 issue
of Astounding Science. There is one reference to chess.
("Evenings they listened to the harpist or watched groups
of players put on short skits in the living room. The
humans looked at television, listened to a crystal set,
played chess.")

James Edwin Gunn (1923- ) is an American science

fiction writer. In 1953, he published "Breaking Point,"
which appeared in the March 1947 issue of Astounding
Science Fiction. A man retreats to a chess game and
survives, psychologically, because he had devised a way
to adapt its rules to the alien game and defeat them.

Brooks Hansen is an American novelist. In 1995, he

wrote The Chess Garden. Dr. Gustav Uyterhoeven
leaves Dayton, Ohio and goes to South Africa to serve as
a doctor during the Boer War. He sends back chess
pieces and letters that describe an imagined floating
island where all the chess pieces and other game pieces
come to life. The chess garden at their home in Dayton
has ponds and shady places with chess tables carefully
laid out. His shed is filled with exotic chess sets.

Charles L. Harness (1915-2005) was an American

science fiction writer and a patent attorney. In 1949, he
published The Paradox Men. ("Chess — Eskimo?" he
murmured with puzzled politeness. Several of the men
smiled. "Sure, Eskimo," boomed Miles impatiently.
"Never been in a solarion before. Has the sweat he was
born with. Probably fresh out of school and loaded down
with chess sets to keep our minds occupied so we won't
brood."..."I rather like a game of chess myself.") In
1949, he published "Stalemate in Space," which
appeared in the summer 1949 issue of Planet Stories. In
March 1953, his short story "The Rose" was published
by Authentic Science Fiction. There was a reference to
chess on how to compose the ideal end-game. In 1953,
his short story, "The Chessplayers," appeared in The
Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1953.
The K Street Chess Club runs across a refugee professor
(an illegal alien) who claims he has a chess-playing rat
named Zeno that he trained. In 1988, he published
Krono. (During the last few sessions the chess position
had somehow shifted significantly. How had it
happened? It was no longer a popular draw. It was now a
sure win for D, who had the black pieces. The computers
had worked out this exact position before Konteau was
born. It was in all the end-game books. And yet D still
played slowly, carefully, with life-and death
deliberation.) In 1994, he published "The Tetrahedron,"
which appeared in the January 1994 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. It involves someone
who confronts the chess lord of Europe, Luis de Lucena.
In 1999, he published Drunkard's Endgame. ("I shall be
working with Chief Datik on a second matter, one that
will by itself consume a great deal of time." "And why
might that be?" "Our chess game. Slowly, slowly, move
by move, I can permit him to develop a winning
position. Now, as long as he thinks he is winning at
chess, I can probably stall the Algorithm."). In 2000, he
published "Playmate," which appeared in the September
2000 issue of Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There
is a reference to chess and a chess club.

Robert Heinlein (1907-1988) was an American science

fiction writer and chess player who learned the game at
age four. In 1941, under the pen name of Anson
MacDonald, he published "Sixth Column," also known
under the title The Day After Tomorrow, in the January,
February, Marsh 1941 issues of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. There were a couple of chess
references. During Ardmore's visit in his guise as High
Priest of Mota, the Prince shows Ardmore a chess
problem, asking how he would solve it. Ardmore moves
a pawn and the Prince comments how unorthodox a
move it is, but Ardmore replies that from there it is mate
in three moves. ("Ardmore was ready to conclude. His
eye swept around the room and noted something he had
seen before — the Prince's ubiquitous chess table. It was
set up by the head of the bead, as the Prince amuse
himself with it on sleepless nights. Apparently the man
set much store by the game.") In 1941, he published
"They," which appeared in Unknown, April 1941 ("I'll
play chess with you." "All right, all right." Hayward
made a gesture of impatient concession. "We've played
chess every day for a week. If you will talk, I'll play
chess."). In 1941, he wrote Methuselah's Children, which
was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction in the July,
August, and September 1941 issues. Andrew Jackson
Libby and Captain Rufus King play a game of chess,
which starts out 1.e4 Nf6 (the novel uses descriptive
notation). Also in 1941, he wrote Sixth Column, where
one of the characters solves a chess problem (mate in
three moves). Robert Heinlein wrote The Rolling Stones
in 1952. It was about a kid who played chess and could
see what the other person was thinking. In 1948, he
published "Gentlemen, Be Seated!" in Argosy, May
1948, which was re-published in the June 1952 issue of
Famous Fantastic Mysteries. ("He sets aside the honor
— if Konski wants to collect the chess money he won
while waiting to be rescued, he will have to come to Des
Moines."). In 1952, he published The Rolling Stones.
("...I'll keep my phone open and we'll play chess while
I'm away." Buster clouded up. "It's no fun to play chess
by telephone. I can't tell what you are thinking."). In
1953, he published Starman Jones. When passenger
Eldreth "Ellie" Coburn visits her pet, an alien, semi-
intelligent "spider puppy" that Max has befriended, she
learns that he can play three-dimensional chess, and
challenges him to a game. A champion player, she
diplomatically lets him win. ("That's nice. What have
you got there?" It was a three-dimensional chess set.
Max had played the game with his uncle, it being one
that all astrogators played. Finding that some of the
chartsmen and computermen played it, he had invested
his tips in a set from the ship's slop chest... "It's solid
chess. Ever seen it?" "Yes. But I didn't know you played
it" "Why not? Ever play flat chess?"). In 1957, he
published "Citizen of the Galaxy," which appeared in the
October-December 1957 issues of Astounding Science
Fiction. ("Mathematics Thorby saw no use in, but when
he thought of it as a game, like chess, it actually became
more fun."). In 1961, Heinlein wrote My Object All
Sublime ("He led me to a bar that had little of Chicago
about it: quiet, shabby, no jukebox, no television, a
bookshelf, and several chess sets, but none of the freaks
and phoneys who usually infest such places."). In 1966,
he published The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. ("Activities
include stock brokerage, farming interests. Attends
theater, concerts, etc. Probably member Luna City Chess
Club and Luna Assoc, d'Echecs."). In 1973, he published
Time Enough for Love. ("Pool is an open game, like
chess. Difficult to cheat. ...He fetched me home from the
chess club and saved me a soaking."). In 1985, he
published a science fiction novel called The Cat Who
Walks through Walls. It has one chess reference. ("The
only constant thing in these shifting, fairy-chess worlds
is human love.")

Howard Hendrix (1959- ) is a science fiction writer. In

2006, he published The Labyrinth Key. ("His
undergraduate degrees were in physics and electrical
engineering," Wang replied, trying not to sound
defensive, but not quite managing it. "He has genius-
level mathematical aptitude. Chess expert, crossword-
puzzle addict — like a lot of cryptanalysts, actually.") In
2006, he published The Spears of God. ("Most of what
they looked through was typical family memorabilia —
a large crop of photos featuring Jacinta at various ages,
news articles on her accomplishments going all the way
back to science fair and high school chess team
victories."). In 2010, he published Lightpaths.
("[Positions] are overlooked by event top grandmasters'
— which was also said of the first computer to defeat the
world's last human chess champion, by the way. In
joining VAJRA, I've benefited from an insight I'd
overlooked, a key point in the game.... There's a deeper
game, a more serious game that needs playing. The game
in which troubled gods play chess against the unbeatable
machinery of themselves."). In 2010, he published
Standing Wave. There are several references to chess.
Chess is played with a marble chess cube and there are
three-dimensional chess problems. The cube shrinks and
becomes a flat two-dimensional sheet, still marked with
the light and dark squares of its chessboard top. ("Then
troubled gods played chess against unbeatable
machinery — as he said. Chess for the highest of stakes
they played, once, some time, in some tale-eaten
future.")

In 1969, Frank Herbert (1920-1986) wrote Whipping

Star. Miss Abnethe, a psychotic human female with
immense power and wealth, is described as a person who
castles in chess when she doesn't have to.

H. B. Hickey was the pen name of Herbert Livingston

(1916-2016), a science fiction writer. In 1949, he wrote
"Checkmate to Demos," which appeared in the March
1949 issue of Fantastic Adventures. There are a lot of
chess references in this story. ("I was going to become
the greatest chess player in the world! Not just one of the
greatest, Harkness, but the very best of them all. And I
would have done it. All my life I have practiced and
studies. Do you know what I do when you and your
precious wife are not around? I close my eyes and play
chess with myself! I pretend I am playing the great
masters. And I defeat them just as surely as if I were
playing them in reality. No man lives who knows more
about chess than I do. No man lives who has my
mind.'")

James P. Hogan (1941-2010) was a British science

fiction writer. In 1992, he published "Last Ditch," which
appeared in the December 1992 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are several
references to chess and chess-playing programs. The
Russians make a last ditch effort to beat the Americans
in chess, and the winner takes all. The Russian had just
built a computer that has pre-computed every possible
chess move in advance.

L. Ron Hubbard, who was an avid chess player,

sometimes wrote under the pen name Frederick
Englehardt. In 1939, Englehardt (Hubbard) published
"General Swamp, C.I.C.," which appeared in the
September 1939 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. There is a discussion of the ancient game of
chess. In 1950, Hubbard published "To the Stars," which
appeared in the February 1950 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are a couple
of references to chess. They played chess in sick bay.
("Strange in many a bitter battle over a chessboard in
sick bay and by whipping at the doctor's vanity with
such remarks as 'You know, it's a funny thing about
chess — a man feels the disgrace of a beating so keenly,
I think, because there's no luck in it — getting mated is a
truthful commentary on a man's actual brains-'")

Gavin Hyde is a science fiction writer. In 1953, he

published "The Contest," which appeared in the May
1953 issue of Worlds of If Science Fiction. There are a
few references to chess.

Phillip C. Jennings is a science fiction writer. In 1990,

he published "The Betrothal," which appeared in the
October 1990 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction
Magazine. There are a couple of references to chess. In
2004, he published "The Saint," which appeared in the
March 2004 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction
Magazine. There is a Palace of Chess.

Alexander Kazantsev (1906-2002) was a popular Soviet

science fiction writer. He was also a composer of chess
endgame studies. In 1975 he was awarded by the
Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess
Compositions (PCCC) the title of International Master of
Composition.

Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) was a British and later Also

American writer of novels and short stories. In 1944, he
published "The Devil That Troubled the Chess-Board."
There are several references to chess. Something or
someone is throwing chess pieces. ("'Things that
throw...such as chess pieces and things connected with
the game of chess. Nothing else. I am a chess-player. It
hates chess. It follows me from place to place. It waits
until I am asleep, and then it tries to destroy my chess-
pieces. It has already torn up all my books and papers.
There is nothing left but the board and pieces: they are
too strong for it, and so it grows increasingly violent.
...If you had told me that you merely been seeing things I
might have thought so. But if one's chessboard flies off
the table, that is another matter.'")

Donald Kingsbury (1929- ) is an American-Canadian

science fiction author. In 1982, he published "Courtship
Rite," which appeared in the March 1982 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. ("'I always lose at
chess.' 'I noticed.'"). In 2001, he wrote the novel
Psychohistorical Crisis. The characters who are people
who are superhuman with a specialized brain
augmentation, and nobody but children plays chess,
because every game is bound to be a draw, like tic-tac-
toe.

Jay Kay Klein (1931-2012) was a science fiction writer

and chess player. He contributed to the Biolog series in
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction.

Jeffery Kooistra (1959- ) is a science fiction writer. In

1993, he published "Young Again," which appeared in
the December 1993 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. In 2000, it became part of his novel, Dykstra's
War. There are a couple of reference to chess and chess
sets. ("He relived that last chess game with his best
friend, Jamie. His collection of rare chess sets was gone
forever, all three hundred.")

Nancy Kress (1948- ) is an American science fiction

writer and a chess player. In 2006, she published "Nano
Comes to Clifford Falls," which appeared in the July
2006 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There
are a couple of references to chess and the US chess
champion. In 2007, she published "End Game" in the
April 2007 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.
Chess is one of the main themes of the story. Lucy
Hartwick becomes the first female World Chess
Champion. If you eliminate brain static and unclutter the
mind, you can conquer anything, such as chess.
Henry Kuttner (1915-1958) was an American author of
science fiction, fantasy and horror. Lewis Padgett was
his pen name (see Lewis Padgett).

Allen Kim Lang (1928- ) is a science fiction writer. In

1957, he published "Ambassador's Return," which
appeared in the November 1957 issue of The Magazine
of Fantasy and Science Fiction. One of the characters
was crowned Interworld Chess Champion.

Doug Larsen is a science fiction writer. In 1996, he

published "The Content of Their Character," which
appeared in the June 1996 issue of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. There is a couple of reference to chess
and forming a chess tournament. ("I should look into
forming a chess tournament... 'I'll wipe up the board with
you.' 'We'll see about that. After dinner, in our room:
Pawns at twenty paces.'")

Mary Soon Lee (1965- ) is a British speculative fiction

writer and poet. In 1997, she published "Monstrosity," in
the August 1997 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and
Science Fiction. There are a few references to playing
chess.

Tanith Lee (1947-2015) was a British writer of science

fiction. In 2003, she published "Blood Chess" in Weird
Tales, spring 2003.

Fritz Leiber (1910-1992) was an American writer of

fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a chess
player. In 1958, he won the 1958 Santa Monica Open.
Chess is mentioned in many of his stories. In 1950, he
published "Let Freedom Ring," ("The Wolf Pack")
which appeared in the April 1950 issue of Amazing
Science Fiction Stories. It had a few chess references.
("'I found another of those damned chess sets.' M'Caslrai
stirred, slowly rubbed his dark-guttered eyelids. 'Makes
three in a week,' J'Wilobe continued in staccato bursts. 'I
destroyed it, of course, but it shook me up. Obviously,
someone knows I could have been the greatest chess-
player in the world.'"). In 1950, he published "You're All
Alone," which was published in the July 1950 issue of
Fantastic Adventures. There were a couple of chess
references. ("They emerged panting in a hall where the
one frosted door that wasn't dark read CASSSA CHESS
CLUB.") In 1958, he published "The Big Time." ("Maud
had sat down at the other end of the bar and was knitting
— it's one of those habits like chess and quiet drinking,
or learning to talk by squeak box, that we pick up to pass
the time in the Place in the long stretches between
parties.") In 1960, he published "The Night of the Long
Knives," which appeared in the January 1960 issue of
Amazing Stories. ("It was a little like two savages trying
to decide how to play chess by looking at the pieces.").
In 1962, he published "The 64-Square Madhouse,"
which appeared in the May 1962 issue of If. It is about a
chess-playing computer that wins the World Chess
Championship. ("Silently, so as not to shock anyone
with illusions about well dressed young women, Sandra
Lea Grayling cursed the day she had persuaded the
Chicago Space Mirror that there would be all sorts of
human interest stories to be picked up at the first
international grandmaster chess tournament in which an
electronic computing machine was entered."). In 1962,
he published "The Creature from Cleveland Depths."
("Leaving the hall door open Gusterson got out his .38
and cleaned and loaded it, meanwhile concentrating on a
chess problem with the idea of confusing a hypothetical
psionic monitor. ...Daisy came dragging in without her
hat, looking as if she'd been concentrating on a chess
problem for hours herself and just now given up."). In
1964, Fritz Leiber and Harry Fischer (another chess
player) published "The Lords of Quarmall," which
appeared in the January 1964 issue of Fantastic Science
Fiction. There are several references to chess playing.
("The chess game had developed beyond the opening
stage, the moves coming slower, and now Hasjarl rapped
down a rook on the seventh rank.") In 1965, he
published, "Knight to Move," which appeared in the
December 1965 issue of Broadside Magazine. ("The
beautiful hawk face hooded by black bangs searched the
golden hall below, where a thousand intelligent beasts
from half as many planets were playing chess. ...Just an
interstellar chess tournament, Swiss System, twenty-four
rounds, being conducted on the fifth planet of the star 61
Cygni in the year 5037 A.D., old Earth Time."). In 1974,
he published "Midnight by the Morphy Watch," which
appeared in the August 1974 issue of If.

Murray Leinster was the pen name of William Fitzgerald

Jenkins (1896-1975), an American science fiction writer.
In 1930, he published "Tanks," which appeared in the
January 1930 issue of Astounding Stories. There is one
reference to chess. ("The general moved rarely, and
spoke hardly at all. His whole air was that of a man
absorbed in a game of chess — a game on which the fate
of a nation depended.")

In 1989, Brad Leithauser (1953- ) wrote Hence, in which

a chess genius named Timothy and plays against an MIT
computer (ANNDY) for the world chess championship.
("It would be devoted solely to chess, with a chess
library and all the best players given free
accommodation, year in, year out, and Timothy feels an
old, bitter disappointment, that such as island doesn't
exist.")

Bob Leman (1922-2006) was an American science

fiction writer. In 1984, he published "Instructions,"
which appeared in the September 1984 issue of The
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are
several references to chess. ("You have on your native
planet an intellectual diversion quite suitable for your
minds, called chess. We are now playing, with another
entity, much like yourself, a game with distant analogies
to the game of chess raised many powers in
complexity."

Edward Lerner (1949- ) is an American science fiction

author. In 2006, he published "A New Order of Things,"
which appeared in the June-September 2006 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are several
chess references with wagering with the crew over chess
matches. In 2012, he published Energized. It has several
references to chess. ("As a boy, to be a chess
grandmaster has been the limit oh is ambitions. ...It
turned out they [Russian FSB] recruited many chess
prodigies..."). In 2014, he wrote "Championship B'tok,"
which appeared in the September 2014 issue of Analog.
Thousands of games can be loaded into a person's neural
implant. By the directed simulation of neurons, a virtual
knight can capture an imaginary pawn. ("B'tok, the
traditional Hunter strategy game, was to chess as chess
was to tic-tac-toe...Lyle told himself, yet again, that there
was no shame in losing at chess to an artificial
intelligence.")

Peter Ling (1926-2006) was a British writer. In 1986, he

published The Mind Robber based on the Doctor Who
series. Doctor Who and the Master play a game of chess
using the other characters as game pieces.

Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist and

sometimes wrote science fiction. In 1915, he published
The Star Rover (published in England as The Jacket).
("As example, I taught Oppenheimer to play chess.
Consider how tremendous such an achievement is — to
teach a man, thirteen cells away, by means of knuckle-
raps; to teach him to visualize a chessboard, to visualize
all the pieces, pawns and positions, to know the various
manners of moving; and to teach him it all so thoroughly
that he and I, by pure visualization, were in the end able
to play entire games of chess in our minds. ...Yunsan
was given a brave death. He was playing a game of
chess with the jailer, when the Emperor's or rather,
Chong Mong-ju's messenger arrived with the poison cup.
'Wait a moment,' said Yunsan. 'You should be better
mannered than to disturb a man in the midst of a game of
chess. I shall drink directly the game is over.' And while
the messenger waited, Yunsan finished the game,
winning it, then drained the cup.")

Anson MacDonald was a pen name of Robert Heinlein

(1907-1988). — see Heinlien

Katherine MacLean (1925- ) is an American science

fiction author. In 1950, she published "Incommunicado,"
which was published in the June 1950 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. It described an alien
culture and their particular skill with a chesslike game.

Barry Malzberg (1939- ) is an American science fiction

and fantasy writer. In 1974, he published Tactics of
Conquest. The novel first started out as a short story
called "Closed Sicilian," which he sold to Fantasy and
Science Fiction for $80. A game of chess decides the
fate of the universe. ("You mean we're truly going to
play for the fate of the Universe? "Exactly," the
Overlord said, "a forty-one game chess match to be
broadcast throughout all civilized sectors of your
Universe so that everyone can witness it." "But why
chess? Why me? Why this planet?" "Because chess is
ideal for such a final judgement; it is a methodical game
with absolutely no element of luck, and therefore there
can be no complaints by the loser. Chess is known only
to your plant, and you and your opponent are the most
evenly matched living players. Good against evil. No
other chess players are so close in true potential abilities.
There is no other reason.")

George R. R. Martin (1948- ) is an American novelist

and science fiction writer. He is also a big chess fan
(USCF rated over 2000) and has been a chess organizer.
In 1972, he published an essay called "The Computer
was a Fish" in the August 1972 issue of Analog Science
Fiction/Science Fact. He mentions the 1971 Association
of Computer Machinery (ACM) and a computer chess
program called CCCP. In 1982, he published "Unsound
Variations," which appeared in the January 1982 issue of
Amazing Science Fiction Stories. It had a few chess
references.

Joe Martino is a science fiction writer. In 1993, he

published "Paper Virus," which appeared in the
December 1993 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. A character named Nakamura plays chess with
Alexandrov.

Gary D. McClellan is a science fiction author. In 1978,

he published "Darkside," which appeared in the March
1978 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There
are a couple of references to chess.

Jack McDevitt (1935- ) is an American science fiction

author. In 1982, he wrote "Black to Move," which
appeared in the September 1982 issue of Asimov's
Science Fiction Magazine. It is a chilling story of alien
cunning explained in chess terms. There are several
chess references. In 1983, he published "The Jersey
Rifle." It is a tale about the best chess player in the
world. In 2005, he wrote Seeker. At the Museum of
Alien Life there is a Hall of Humans. One of the displays
was a chess game in progress.

Abraham Merritt (1884-1943) was a writer of fantastic

fiction. In 1949, he published Seven Footprints to Satan.
It had a reference to living chess. ("Some people live
their lives for chess. I play my chess with living
chessmen and I play a score of games at once in all
corners of the world.")

Sandy Miller Gearhart (1931- ) is an American science

fiction writer. In 1950, she wrote "Checkmate," which
appeared in the March 1950 issue of Fantastic
Adventures. ("He sat down and touched a stud. At once a
chess board swung up, its pieces set in order and ready
to play. Flaren pressed another stud and the clicking of a
relay told him the set was primed. The machine would
give him a good game. He glanced to see if the handicap
control was set at "class two" — it was. He made the
conventional Queen's Pawn opening.")

In 1950, William Morrison published The Sack. The

Sack was a creature that could answer any questions.
The Sack found itself giving advice to bitter rivals, so
that it seemed to be playing a game of Interplanetary
Chess.

Ryck Neube is a science fiction and fantasy writer. In

2000, he published "The Wurst King vs Aluminum
Foil," which appeared in the August 2000 issue of
Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. A man is hired as a
bodyguard to a questionably-sane chess champion. There
is a tournament with several of the top hundred chess
masters in the galaxy. In 2005, he published "Organs R
Us," which appeared in the March 2005 issue of
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There are a couple
of chess references. In 2007, he published "Battlefield
Games," which appeared in the January 2007 issue of
Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. It is about a soldier
who plays chess against one of the 'smart' weapons, an
intelligent cruise missile from the enemy.
Alec Nevala-Lee is a science fiction writer. In 2004, he
published "Inversus," which appeared in the January
2004 issue of Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There
are a couple of chess references. In 2012, he published
his novel City of Exiles. ("'I'm afraid that I never joined
chess club.") There was also a reference to former world
chess champion Garry Kasparov.

Katherine Neville (1945- ) is an American author who

writes adventure novels. In 1988, she wrote The Eight.
Whoever reassembles the legendary chess pieces once
owned by Charlemagne can play a game of unlimited
power.

Larry Niven (1938- ) is an American science fiction

writer. In 1970, he published Ringworld. In Ringworld,
fairy chess is played by Louis Wu at his mansion, with
Teela Brown, on Earth in 2850. In 2005, he co-wrote,
with Brenda Cooper, "Kath and Quicksilver," which
appeared in the August 2005 issue of Asimov's Science
Fiction Magazine. There are a couple of references to
chess, such as Quicksilver could beat Kath in chess.

Bob Olsen, the pen name of Alfred Johannes Olsen

(1884-1956) was an American science fiction writer. In
1929, he published "The Superperfect Bride," which
appeared in the July 1929 issue of Amazing Science
Fiction Stories. The woman named Eve in the story is
highly intelligent, at least as good a chess player as
Broderick (looking for a bride), a gifted musician, and
amiable.

Lee Owens was a science fiction writer. In 1950, he

published "Fables from the Future," which appeared in
the August 1950 issue of Fantastic Adventures. He
writes about a chess-playing machine in the future and
that machines are gradually duplicating the thinking
process. He further writes that a machine might beat
poor or even mediocre players, though not the finest.

In 1946, Lewis Padgett (the husband and wife team

Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore) wrote The Fairy
Chessmen, first published in Astounding magazine in
January and February, 1946. The novel was later
renamed Chessboard Planet and published by Gnome
Press in 1951. A mathematician whose research involves
a type of chess played with variable rules ("fairy chess')
is the only one able to solve an equation from the future.
In 1947, Padgett published "Tomorrow and Tomorrow,"
which appeared in the January and February 1947 issues
of Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are several
chess references. ("The symbol is chess. As long as she
can beat you at chess, you can feel safe in assuming that
she's not weakening.")

Raymond Palmer (1910-1977) was the editor of

Amazing Stories from 1938 to 1949. He was also an
avid chess player.

Edgar Pangborn (1909-1976) was a science fiction

writer. In 1951, he published "Angel's Egg," which
appeared in the June 1951 issue of Galaxy Science
Fiction. There are a few references to chess. ("Lester
dropped around for sherry and chess. The angel retired
behind some books on an upper shelf — I'm afraid it was
dusty — and had fun with our chess... I tell you again I
didn't study the game in the interval when you weren't
here. I've never even had a chess book in the library, and
if I had, no amount of study would take me into your
class. ")

Rodman Philbrick (1951- ) is an American writer of

novels. In 2000, he wrote The Last Book in the
Universe. There are several references to chess. (Lanaya
and Jin are in the game space, a room that changes shape
and layout depending upon the game being played — in
this case, chess. Chess is one of those deals that looks
real simple, but isn't... Some pieces, like Drones, can
only move one square at a time; others, like Crooks or
Wizards, can go all the way across the board in different
directions. The object is to trap the pieces they call the
Master."

Rog Phillips, the pen name of Roger Phillip Graham

(1909-1965) was an American science fiction writer. In
1948, he published "Starship from Sirius" in the August
1948 issue of Amazing Science Fiction Stories. There
are a few references to chess. In 1951, he published
"Checkmate for Aradjo," which appeared in the
December 1951 issue of Amazing Science Fiction
Stories. There are several references to chess. Aradjo
Ihanrani is chess champion of the world. In 1959, he
published "The Creeper in the Dream," which appeared
in the February 1959 issue of Fantastic Science Fiction.
One of the characters takes chess lessons from a lady.

Henry Beam Piper (1904-1964) was an American

science fiction author and chess player. In 1950, he
published "The Mercenaries," which appeared in the
March 1950 issue of Analog/Science Fiction. It had a
couple of references to chess. ("'...I was wondering if
you'd have time to meet me at the Recreation House at
Oppenheimer Village for a game of chess.' ...'I'm in the
middle of a devil's own mathematical problem; maybe a
game of chess would clear my head. I have a new
queen's-knight gambit I want to try on you, anyhow.")

Frederick Pohl (1919-2013) was an American science

fiction writer and chess player. In 1964, he published
"Chess and the Giant Brains," which appeared in the
August 1964 issue of If. In 1980, he published Beyond
the Blue Event Horizon. ("I could beat the ass of Vera
when we played chess, unless she cheated. How did she
cheat? Well, after I had won maybe two hundred games
from her she won one. And then I won about fifty, and
then she won one, and another, and for the next twenty
games we were about even and then she began to
clobber me every time. Until I figured out what was she
doing. She was transmitting position and plans to the big
computers on Earth and then, when we recessed games,
as we sometimes did, because Payter or one of the
women would drag me away, because Payter or one of
the women would drag me away from the set, she would
have time to get Downlink-Vera's criticism of her plans
and suggestions to amend her strategies.") In 1990, he
published The World at the End of Time. Wan-To, one
of the oldest and most powerful plasma creatures, is
engaged in a war. After creating modified copies of
himself, or "children", for company, Wan-To finds
himself in a deadly game of chess with them. The
"board" is the entire galaxy and the weapons are the stars
themselves. Each star may be home to an enemy
"child"... and using a variety of exotic particles, Wan-To
is able to cause a targeted star to flare and kill any
enemy that may be living within it.

Tom Purdom (1936- ) is an American science fiction

writer. In 2002, he published "A Champion of
Democracy," which appeared in the May 2002, issue of
Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There are a couple
of references to chess. In 2003, he published
"Sheltering," which appeared in the August 2003 issue
of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There are a few
references to chess in a bomb shelter during a 21st
century war.

Frank Quattrocchi was a science fiction writer. In 1951,

he published "Assignment in the Unknown," which
appeared in the February 1951 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There is a reference
to three-dimensional chess.

Mack Reynolds (1917-1983) was an American science

fiction writer. In 1955, he published "Albatross," which
appeared in the April 1955 issue of Imagination. ("One
day we sat in the officers' mess across a chess table, with
two or three others watching. Jack Casey had made his
inevitable gambit, and, also, inevitable, I'd accepted.
Now he had his king's pawn in his hand."). In 1965, he
published "The Adventure of the Extraterrestrial," which
appeared in the July 1965 issue of Analog. ("From the
chess problem, over which he had been nodding, my
companion slowly raised his head.") In 1965, he
published "Beehive," which appeared in the December
1965-January 1966 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. The story refers to battle chess. ("'But, even so,
don't play any battle chess with them. We can't afford to
show ourselves up.' Doctor Horsten said mildly, "They
don't play battle chess. The chap I met on Firense
introduced me to their planetary intellectual game. I
couldn't make head nor tails of the rules and gave up.'")

Jeremy Robinson (1974) is a writer of adventure and sci-

fi novels. He sometimes writes under the pen names of
Jeremy bishop and Jeremiah Knight. He wrote a series of
novellas called the "Chesspocalypse" that follow an
individual member of Robinson's chess Team.

Spider Robinson (1948- ) and Jeanne Robinson (1948-

2010) were husband and wife science fiction writers. In
1978, they published "Stardance II," which appeared in
the October 1978 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. 3-D chess is mentioned.

Eric Frank Russell (1905-1978) was a British science

fiction author. In 1941, he published "Men, Martians and
Machines," which appeared in the May 1941 to Oct 1943
issues of Astounding. There are chess-fanatic Martians
who argue about chess moves.

Geoff Ryman (1951- ) is a science fiction and fantasy

writer. In 2005, he published his novel Air: Or, Have
Not Have. ("Middle-aged men still played chess outside
tiny cafes...").

Fred Saberhagen (1930-2007) was an American science

fiction and fantasy author. In 1945, he published "Love
Conquers All," which appeared in the November 1974 to
January 1975 issues of Galaxy Science Fiction. There
are several references to chess. In 1982, he edited Pawn
to Infinity, which included many science fiction stories
about chess. ("He tossed his box of handcarved Staunton
chessmen rattling onto the large circular bed, set his
digital tournament clock down gently, and picked up the
note, which was in Rita's handwriting.")

Robert Scherrer is a science fiction writer on physicist.

In 2004, he published "Extra Innings," which appeared
in the November 2004 issue of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. In his story, chess was solved in the
future by a global processor. ("'Chess?' 'Chess was
solved by the global processor. There's a perfect winning
strategy for white.'")

John Michael Sharkey (1931-1992) was a science fiction

writer. In 1960, he wrote The Dope on Mars. There were
a few chess references. ("Llody came by, also. "Your
play chess?" he asked. "A little," I admitted. "How about
a game sometime?" "Sure," I said. "Do you have a
board?" He didn't.")
Richard Shaver (1907-1975) was an American writer
and chess player. In 1950, he published, "We Dance for
the Dom," which appeared in the January 1950 issue of
Amazing Science Fiction Stories. It has a few references
to chess. ("The place where IT sat was reminiscent of a
King behind the chess pieces. ...The floor of the vast and
dismal place bore out the impression of chess.")

Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) was an American science

fiction writer. In 1953, he published, "Fool's Mate,"
which was published in the March 1953 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. It was a short story
on using the game theory of war. There were several
references to chess. It used probably calculators like
chess players, looking for patterns. ("Half of the
opposing chess player's pieces shot out into space,
completely out of the battle. Whole flanks advanced,
split, rejoined, wrenched forward, dissolved their
formation, formed it again. No pattern? There had to be
a pattern. The chess player knew that everything had a
pattern. It was just a question of finding it, of taking the
moves already made and extrapolating to determine what
the end was supposed to be.")

Lucius Shepard (1947-2014) was an American science

fiction and fantasy writer. In 2000, he published
"Radiant Green Star," which appeared in the August
2000 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There
are a couple of references to chess. ("I did not make a
good chess player, I was far too distracted by the
presence of my teacher to heed her lessons. But I'm
grateful to the game, for through the movements of
knights and queens, through my clumsiness and her
patience, through hours of sitting with our heads bent
close together, our hearts grew close.")

Wilmar H. Shiras (1908-1990) was an American science

fiction author. She also wrote under the name Jane
Howes. In 1948, she published "In Hiding," which was
published in the November 1948 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are several
references to chess. ("It turned out that Tim had pen
friends all over the world. He played chess by
correspondence — a game he never dared to play in
person, except when he forced himself to move the
pieces about idly and let his opponent win at least half
the time... Chess players don't like fantasy, and nobody
else likes chess. You have to have a very special kind of
mind to like both.")

Robert Silverberg (1935- ) is an American author and

editor, best known for writing science fiction. In 1957,
he wrote Master of Life and Death. Due to global
overcrowding, Walton had to dump several hundred
thousand Belgians into Patagonia. "He forced himself to
cling to one of Director FitzMaugham's oft-repeated
maxims, If you want to stay sane, think of these people
as pawns in a chess game — not as human beings."). In
1974, he wrote Schwartz between the Galaxies, which
won the 1975 Hugo Award. Dr. Schwartz, an
anthropologist, travels to Papua in a rocket. He compares
his chosen profession as empty, foolish, and useless as
playing a game of chess. In 1998, he published "Waiting
for the End," which appeared in the October 1998 issue
of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There was a
reference to a gigantic game of chess.

Clifford Simak (1904-1988) was an American science

fiction writer whose interests included chess. In 1931, he
published "Cosmic Engineers," which appeared in the
February 1939 issue of Analog/Astounding Science
Fiction. In 1949, he published "Eternity Lost," which
appeared in the July 1949 issue of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. There were a few references to chess.
("Chess is a game of logic. But likewise a game of
ethics. You do not shout and you do not whistle, nor
bang the pieces on the board...") In 1950, it was revised
for book publication. A mathematician invents 3D chess.
In 1951, he wrote Time and Again (also published as
First He Died). He depicted a chess game between a man
and a robot. ("It would be three-dimensional chess with a
million billion squares and a million pieces, and with the
rules changing every move...In the screen a man was
sitting before a chess table. The pieces were in mid-
game. Across the board stood a beautifully machined
robotic. The man reached out a hand, thoughtfully
played a knight. The robotic clicked and chuckled. It
moved a pawn..."Mr. Benton hasn't won a game in the
past ten years...""... Benton must have known, when he
had Oscar fabricated, that Oscar would beat him," Sutton
pointed out. "A human simply can't beat a robotic
expert."). In 1954, he published "Immigrant," which
appeared in the March 1954 issue of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. There are a couple of references to
chess. ("'I understand you have a game called chess,' said
George. 'We can't play games, of course. You know why
we can't. But I'd be very interested in discussing with
you the technique and philosophy of chess.'") In 1956,
he published "Honorable Opponent," which appeared in
the August 1956 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. There
is a reference to a chess game being played. ("'Captain,'
asked General Lyman Flood, 'what time have we got
now? Captain Gist looked up from the chessboard.
'Thirty-seven o eight, galactic, sir.' Then he went back to
the board again. Sergeant Conrad had pinned his knight
and he didn't like it.")

John Sladek (1937-2000) was an American science

fiction author. In 1972, he published "Engineer to the
Gods," which appeared in the August 1972 issue of
Fantasy and Science Fiction. Jeremiah Lashard is an
expert at chess, boxing, astronautics, economics,
Frisbees, etc. In 1983, he published his novel Tik-Tok.
Chess is played in Nixon Park. ("He played lightning
chess, never studying the board for never more than five
seconds before his yellow-stained hand would snake out
and make a move. And they were devastating moves. I
won about one game in ten, no more.")

Cordwainer Smith was the pen name of Paul Myron

Anthony Linebarger (1913-1966). He was a science
fiction author. In 1961, he published "Mother Hitton's
Littul Kittons," which appeared in the June 1961 issue of
Galaxy Magazine. The Elders of the Guild of Thieves
welcomed Benjacomin Bozart back to his planet
comparing his work like the opening move in a brand
new game of chess and that there had been a gambit like
this before. In 1964, he published "The Crime and the
Glory of Commander Suzdal," which appeared in the
May 1964 issue of Amazing Science Fiction Stories.
Suzdal plays chess. ("'Don't you want some chess
players?' 'I can play chess,' said Suzdal. 'all I want to,
using the spare computers. All I have to do is set the
power down and they start losing. On full power, they
always beat me.'")

E.E. Smith (1890-1965) was an early science-fiction

author and a chess player. In 1941, he published "The
Vortex Blaster," which appeared in the July 1941 issue
of Comet.

George O. Smith (1911-1981) was an American science

fiction author. In 1946, he published "Trouble," which
appeared in the July 1946 issue of Analog/Astounding
Science Fiction. There is a reference to living chess. In
1960, he published "The Mind Thing," which appeared
in the March 1960 issue of Fantastic Universe. There is
one reference to chess. A friend invites another friend to
visit him during his vacation. ("bring your fishing gear
— there's excellent fishing quite near- by —and your
gun or guns ; deer are out of season, of course, but
there's still some hunting. And even if we don't hunt you
can improve your marksmanship, if you wish, as I'm
doing ; I've rigged a rifle range. I have my chess set too,
and playing cards.")

Brian Stableford (1948- ) is a British science fiction

writer. In 2007, he published "The Trial," which
appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. There
are a few chess references.

Aileen Steele is a science fiction author. In 2001, she

wrote "The Days Between," which appeared in the
March 2001 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction
Magazine. There are several references to chess.

Bruce Sterling (1954- ) is an American science fiction

author. In 1991, he published "The Unthinkable," which
appeared in the August 1991 issue of The Magazine of
Fantasy and Science Fiction. ("'Chess?' Tsyganov
suggested rising. 'Another time,' said Doughty. Though,
for security reasons, he lacked any official ranking in the
chess world. Doughty was in fact quite an accomplished
chess strategist, particularly strong in the endgame."). In
2005, he published "The Blemmye's Strategem," which
appeared in the January 2005 issue of The Magazine of
Fantasy and Science Fiction. There are a few chess
references in this short story about a Blemmye during
the Crusades, who turns out to be an extraterrestrial. In
2007, he published "Kiosk," which appeared in the
January 2007 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and
Science Fiction. There are a few references to chess.
("All of these items sitting within their digital files as
neat as chess pieces, sitting there like the very idea of
chess pieces, like a mental chess-set awaiting human
desire to leap into being and action."). In 2011, he
published his novel, Heavy Weather. There are a few
chess player characters in the novel.

Francis Stevens was the pen name of Gertrude Barrows

Bennett (1883-1948). She was the first major female
writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States.
In 1942, she published "Serapion," which appeared in
the July 1942 issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries.
There were a couple of chess references. ("Cutting the
apologies short, Nils forgave me, explained that though
out of sympathy with Moore's work, he occasionally
called to play chess with him, and then we were going
up the snow-blanketed walk, side by side. 'Even the
chess sometimes ends in a row,' Nils added gloomily.")

Thomas Stribling (1881-1965) was an American writer,

lawyer, and a chess player. In 1920, he published "The
Green Splotches," which first appeared in the Jan 3,
1920 issue of Adventure. In 1927, it appeared in the
March 1927 issue of Amazing Stories. There are several
references to chess and a chess-like game called cube.
("" 'Cube' has eight boards such as this, superimposed
upon one another. Each board has thirty-two pieces on it,
thus giving two-hundred and fifty-six pieces in all, each
player controlling one hundred and twenty-eight. All the
major pieces can move up or down, forward or
backward, but the pawns can only advance, or go higher.
As no real boards are used, the whole play must be kept
in mind. The game becomes a contest of intricacy, that
is, until one player grows confused, makes an incoherent
move and is checkmated. It is a very pleasant
amusement for persons who have nothing more serious
to think about." "I have seen mental chess-players in
America," observed Standifer, "but they use only one
board. I suppose more would complicate it. I don't play
myself." The chess-players made no answer to this
remark, but set up the men. Mr. Three defeated the
scientists' combined skill in a game of ten moves."). In
late 1927, Stribling discovered he had a passion for
chess. He said, "[Chess] is pure logic used to the ends of
chicane. A most noble game. But it takes forever to learn
anything about it." He later said that he lacked the "sort
of brain that goes to make a chess player." He invented a
new form of chess with three chess boards that "allows
ten times as much strategy as ordinary chess and is ten
times as complicated. Playing chess remained his
pastime passion. After moving to Miami Beach, he
joined a group of amateur chess players who practiced
with an unnamed international chess player. Stribling
eventually beat every member of his club. (Source: T.S.
Stribling: A Life of the Tennessee Novelist, by Kenneth
Vickers)

Don A. Stuart was the pen name of John W. Campbell,

Jr (1910-1971), an American science fiction writer and
editor. In 1938, he published "Who Goes There?" which
appeared in the August 1938 issue of Astounding
Stories. The crewmembers are depicted playing chess.

Theodore Sturgeon (1918-1985) was an American

science fiction writer. In 1948, he published "The Perfect
Host," which appeared in the November 1948 issue of
Weird Tales. ("There is his unspoken, undemanded
authority in the choice of programs in the evenings; and
where are the chess games..."). In 1973, he published
"Case and the Dreamer," which appeared in the January
1973 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. There are a few
references to chess.

Jean Sullivan published "The Chess Set," which

appeared in #13 1985 issue Eldritch Tales.

Chess is mentioned in Griffin's Egg by Michael

Swanwick (1950- ), published in 1992. Gunther Weil
works as a laborer on the moon and wants to play chess.
But nobody plays chess anymore. It's a game for
computers.
Albert Teichner is a science fiction writer. In 1963, he
published "The Right Side of the Tracks," which
appeared in the May 1963 issue of Amazing Science
Fiction Stories. There are a few references to two men
playing chess.

William Tenn (1920-2010) was the pseudonym of Philip

Klass, a British-born American science fiction author. In
1957, he published, "Time Waits for Winthrop," which
appeared in the August 1957 issue of Galaxy Science
Fiction. Five present individuals have been selected to
travel to the future, while five compatible individuals
have been selected to travel to the past. One of the
characters wonders what chess would be like in the
future. The future has a computer that examines and
chooses from every chess game ever recorded.

Walter Tevis (1928-1984) was an American novelist and

short story writer. In 1980, he published "Echo," which
appeared in the October 1980 issue of The Magazine of
Fantasy and Science Fiction. One of the characters had
been captain of his chess club in high school.

Mary Turzillo (1940- ) is an American science fiction

writer. In 1997, she published "Mate," which appeared in
the February 1997 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and
Science Fiction. There are several chess references. In
2012, she published "Someone Is Eating America's
Chess Masters" in Kaleidotrope. Chess is played on the
Saurosapiens home planet and Zoyxaquitl is the
International Champion of Zox. Weiskopf is an avid
chess player. Chess masters have disappeared all over
America and a saurosapiens is eating the chess players.
The story ends with, "David? Before you get wet, bring
me some of those Chessmen cookies?"

A.E. van Vogt (1912-2000) was a Canadian-born science

fiction author. In 1948, he published "The Players of
Null-A," which appeared in the October 1948 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There are a couple
of references to chess. The fate of Earth is somehow
linked to his actions, but there is a mysterious cosmic
chess player that appears to be manipulating events.
("The Galactic League people are bewildered. They can't
decide whether the cosmic chess player who has moved
you into this game is an ally or not. ...And if you don't
kill yourself, then no one else will except you yourself
— or some other agent of the invisible chess player.")

Jack Vance (1916-2013) was an American mystery,

fantasy, and science fiction writer. In 1952, he published
"Abercrombie Station," which appeared in the February
1952 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. It was retitled
"Monsters in Orbit" in 1965. Abercrombie Station orbits
the Earth, and the heir to the Station in Earl, who plays
chess. It mentions correspondence chess. ("Earl played
postcard chess with opponents all over the universe.") In
1957, he published "Equation of Doom," which appeared
in the February 1957 issue of Amazing Stories. ("At that
moment Ramsey had a vision. He saw — or thought he
saw — Margot Dennison in the costume she had word
when they first met. She stood, eyes wide, fearful,
expectant, before a chess-board. The pieces seemed to be
spaceships. It was a perfectly clear vision, but it was the
only such vision Ramsey had ever been vouchsafed in
his life. He was not mystic. He did not know what to
make of it. Playing chess with Margot was — proto-
man."). In 1966, he published "The Palace of Love," in
the October 1966 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.
Gersen investigates the life of Viole Falushe, or Vogel
Filschner as he was known during his childhood. He
finds out that "his only friend had been Roman
Haenigsen, the chess champion" and proceeds by
interviewing the man. ("Like anything else, one must
practice to keep in fighting trim. Chess is an old game."
He went to a board, disarranged the chess-men with
affectionate contempt. "Every variation has been
analyzed; there is a recorded game to illuminate the
results of any reasonable move. If one had a sufficiently
good memory, he would not need to think to win his
games; he could merely play someone else's winning
game. Luckily, no one owns such a memory but the
robots."). In 2006, he published "Death of a Solitary
Chess Player."

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French novelist and

science fiction writer. In 1877, he wrote a science fiction
novel called Off on a Comet (French: Hector Servadac).
In 1926, the first two issues (April and May 1926) of
Amazing Stories reprinted Off on a Comet. There are
several references to chess. ("Both of them, moreover,
were rigid disciplines of the renowned Philidor, who
pronounces that to play the pawns well is 'the soul of
chess'; and, accordingly, not one pawn has been
sacrificed without a most vigorous defense. ...Colonel
Murphy and the major had not even been forced to
forego the pleasures of the chessboard. The game that
had been interrupted by Captaib Servadac's former visit
was not yet concluded; but like two American clubs that
played their celebrated game in 1846 between
Washington and Baltimore, the two gallant officers
made use of the semaphore to communicate their well-
digested moves."

Vernor Vinge (1944- ) is a computer scientist and

science fiction author. In 1984, he published "The Peace
War," which appeared in the May 1984 issue of
Analog/Astounding Science Fiction. There is a reference
to the North American Chess Federation championships.
("The atmosphere of an open chess tournament hadn't
changed much in the last hundred years. ...the
informality mixed with intense concentration, the wide
range of ages, the silence on the floor, the long tables
and rows of players — all would be instantly
recognizable.")

Roger Vreeland was a science fiction writer. In 1944, he

published "The Hidden Player," which appeared in the
January 1944 issue of Weird Tales. There are references
to chess and the Prince Henry Chess Club. ("The
chessboard is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of
the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the
laws of nature.")

In 1986, Ian Watson (1943- ) wrote Queenmagic,

Kingmagic. Two kingdoms have been locked in a war
waged according to the strict rules of chess. Two
opposing pawns fall in love and seek a way out of their
world before its inevitable end. In 1991, he published
"The Odor of Cocktail Cigarettes," which appeared in
the April 1991 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction
Magazine. There are a couple of references to chess.

H. G. Wells (1866-1945) was a science fiction writer and

chess player. In 1895, he wrote the novel The Wonderful
Visit. It tells how a fallen angel who spends time in
Victorian England. He mentions that the English vicar,
Rev K. Hilyer, who shot the angel in the wing, plays
chess. The vicar tells the angel, "I live, I am afraid, a
quiescent life, duties fairly done, a little ornithology, and
a little chess. In 1895, Wells wrote The War of the
Worlds, the first alien invasion story, which was
serialized in 1897 in the UK by Pearson's Magazine and
in the US by Cosmopolitan magazine. In 1898, the novel
appeared in hardcover. In chapter 7, a couple of his
characters (the unnamed protagonist and an artilleryman)
played chess during the Martian invasion near Surrey,
England. He wrote, "Afterwards he taught me poker and
I beat him at three tough chess games. ...After an
interminable string of games, we supped, and the
artilleryman finished his champagne." In 1897, he wrote
the science fiction short story "The Crystal Egg," which
later appeared in the May 1926 issue of Amazing
Stories. ("The contents of its window were curiously
variegated. They comprised some elephant tusks and an
imperfect set of chessmen..."). In 1898, Wells wrote
When the Sleeper Wakes (rewritten as The Sleeper
Awakes in 1910). It was originally published in The
Graphic from 1898 to 1903. It is about a man who falls
asleep and wakes up 200 years in the future. Wells wrote
that players were learning chess faster while they were in
trances. Wells wrote, "Instead of years of study,
candidates had substituted a few weeks of trances, and
during the trances expert coaches had simply to repeat
all the points necessary for adequate answering, adding a
suggestion of the post hypnotic recollection of these
points. In process mathematics particularly, this aid had
been a singular service, and it was now invariable
invoked by such players of chess and games of manual
dexterity as were still to be found." For further
references to H.G. Wells and chess, see my article on
H.G. Wells.

Elwyn Brooks White (1899-1985) was an American

author. In 1951, he published "the Hour of Letdown,"
which appeared in the December 1951 issue of The New
Yorker. It also appeared in the August 1952 issue of The
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A machine put
in 3 days of playing chess in a tournament and won
$5,000. ("In chess, everything is open.")

James White (1928-1999) was a Northern Irish author of

science fiction. In 1960, he published "Dogfight," which
appeared in the April 1960 issue of New Worlds Science
Fiction. There are a few references to chess.

Don Wilcox (1905-2000) was a science fiction writer. In

1944, he published "Man from Magic River," which
appeared in the June 1944 issue of Fantastic Adventures.
Yoy can touch the chess table and the chess-men set up
themselves. ("It would be fun, she thought, to play chess
by moonlight. Strange that the man in the mast should
have heard of her weakness for this game. Was he not
very clever to suggest a pastime so intriguing?...'O-o-oh!
What beautiful chess-men! They're jeweled! And so
intricately designed!'")

Adam Wisniewski-Snerg (1937-1995) was a Polish

science fiction author. In 1978, he wrote Angel of
Violence. Terror-stricken tourists are standing on a huge
chessboard and were unwilling participants in a game of
chess played by two computers (one that was colored
white and another colored black).

Bernard Wolfe (1915-1985) was an American writer. In

1951, he published "Self Portrait," which appeared in the
November 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. There
were major contributions to a robot chess player.

In 1972, Gene Wolfe published The Fifth Head of

Cerberus. He mentions holographic chessmen and the
movement of a lady like an onyx chessman on a polished
board that reminded the character of a Black Queen. The
Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton, Universe
1977.

Donald Wollheim (1914-1990) was an American science

fiction editor, publisher, and writer. In 1956, he wrote
One against the Moon. One of the Soviet scientists said,
"At our [rocket] centers we made a game of this. It was
serious to our country, but to us, men of science, all
discoveries by human beings are great things. We liked
to think of our work as a great game of mental chess
with you Americans — with the pieces on the board
carefully hidden from sight and reported only through
guesswork and bad witnesses."

Wel Yahua is a science fiction writer. In 1984, he

published "Conjugal Happiness in the Arms of
Morpheus," which appeared in the September 1984 issue
of Amazing Science Fiction Stories. One of the female
characters was a chess master.

Arthur Leo Zagat (1896-1949) was an American writer

of pulp fiction and science fiction. In 1951, he published
Drink We Deep. A dead person is still making chess
moves. ("...I saw by marks in dust that Elijah's pipe had
been moved, too, and when I touched it, it was hot. ..Nor
they ain't nobody around here good enough at chess to
figure out that move. No. I get a notion the Elijah, not
being buried in consecrated ground, can't rest. ...A tale of
a drowned farmer returning to his home and moving a
piece on a dusty chess board?")

In 1963, Roger Zelazny (1937-1995) published "A Rose

for Eccleslastes," which appeared in the November 1963
issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It
was nominated for the 1964 Hugo Award for Short
Fiction. The protagonist, a poet named Gallinger, settled
in Greenwich Village and learned to play chess before
becoming the first human to learn the language of
Martians. In 1983, Zelazny published Unicorn
Variations. His 1982 story, "Unicorn Variation," was
about a story of a man playing chess against a unicorn in
a bar.

Science Fiction magazines

Aboriginal 11-12/1988

Amateur Science Fiction Stories 4-5/1926, 7/1929,

3/1938
Amazing Stories 3/1927, 3/1947, 5/1948, 8/1948,
1/1950, 4/1950, 2/1951, 12/1951, 1/1960, 6/1961,
5/1963, 5/1964, 1/1982, 9/1984

Analog — see Astounding Stories

Argosy 5/1948

Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine Spring 1977,

3/1978, 3/1981, 4/1981, 9/1982, 6/1985, 3/1986,
10/1988, 10/1990, 4/1991, 10/1994, 3/1997, 8/2000,
3/2001, 12/2001, 5/2002, 8/2003, 3/2004, 3/2005,
8/2005, 7/2006, 1/2007, 4/2007, 7/2007, 2/2008, 6/2010

Astounding Stories (Astounding Science Fiction, Analog

Science Fact & Fiction, Analog) 1/1930, 1/1939, 2/1939,
9/1939, 2/1941, 5/1941, 7/1941, 8/1941, 10/1943,
1/1946, 2/1946, 3/1947, 7/1946, 1/1947, 6/1947,
10/1948, 11/1948, 7/1949, 9/1949, 2/1950, 3/1950,
6/1950, 8/1950, 2/1951, 3/1952, 1/1953, 3/1953, 8/1953,
3/1954, 4/1955, 10/1957, 11/1957, 12/1957, 3/1958,
2/1959, 8/1959, 9/1959, 7/1965, 1/1966, 8/1972,
10/1978, 12/1981, 3/1982, 5/1984, 3/1986, 3/1987,
10/1989, 1/1992, 12/1992, 12/1993, 1/1994, 6/1996,
7/1998, 9/2000, 9/2003, 1/2004, 9/2004, 11/2004,
3/2005, 6/2006, 7/2006, 8/2006, 9/2006, 6/2008

Authentic Science Fiction 3/1953

Eldrich Tales #11/1985

Famous Fantastic Mysteries 7/1942, 8/1942, 6/1952

Fantastic Adventures 6/1944, 9/1946, 3/1949, 7/1949,

3/1950, 7/1950, 8/1950, 11/1952

Fantastic Science Fiction 3/1953, 2/1959, 1/1964

Fantastic Universe 1/1954, 3/1960

Fantasy and Science Fiction 12/1966, 8/1982, 10/2005,

2/2008

Galaxy Science Fiction 2/1951, 6/1951, 11/1951,

8/1956, 8/1957, 7/1958, 6/1961, 8/1963, 10/1966,
1/1973, 11/1974, 12/1974, 1/1975

If (World of If) 5/1953, 4/1954, 5/1962, 8/1964, 2/1970,

8/1974

Imagination Science Fiction 12/1954, 4/1955

New Worlds Science Fiction 4/1960

Planet Stories Summer 1949

Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine 2/1982

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&FS)

8/1952, 2/1954, 3/ 1954, 11/1957, 1/1974, 7/1976,
12/1978, 10/1980, 9/1984, 8/1991, 2/1997, 8/1998,
1/2005, 1/2007

Thrilling Wonder Stories 6/1937, 2/1952

Unknown 4/1941

Weird Tales 1/1944, 11/1948, Spring 2003

Worlds of If Science Fiction (see If)

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